The SMS Forum, the mobile industry group that fosters and promotes SMS for the benefit of the global wireless industry, has announced that, having successfully achieved its objective of introducing universal standards for SMS, further work from the group is no longer required. The announcement comes as SMS volumes continue to exceed expectations, and while the industry prepares to take mobile messaging in a broader direction, preparing for instant messaging interoperability and widespread IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) uptake.
LogicaCMG, chair of the committee and the company responsible for the original short message peer-to-peer protocol (SMPP) definition, will remain the guardian of the protocol, as well as continuing its active role in messaging innovation for SMS, MMS and IP platforms.
Established in 1997, the SMS Forum has contributed greatly to the global success of SMS, particularly in driving the evolution of the SMPP Specification, which has become the de facto industry standard for SMS. It also addressed global SMS interoperability issues and pioneered XML messaging access protocols for mobile content and gaming.
The members have decided to end the SMS Forum activity because of the universal adoption of standardised protocols. With these protocols now firmly established within the industry, vendors, including LogicaCMG, are now producing innovative SMS services without the risk of divergent standards or the need for forum intervention. Industry attention has now moved towards enriching messaging with multimedia and presence, shifting the emphasis to forums with a wider remit than SMS in isolation, such as the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
Organisations from across the globe have participated in the SMS Forum,  including LogicaCMG, Redknee, Syniverse Technologies, Anam and leading global network operators.
In its early years, the SMS Forum proved instrumental in addressing global SMS issues, discussing possible solutions and ensuring the adoption of agreed standards says LogicaCMG telecoms Chief Strategy Officer, Arie Kuijt. The group unified a divided market onto a common, widely accepted protocol, clearly contributing to the phenomenal success of SMS. As one of the founders of the SMS Forum, we expect a continued growth in SMS for years to come, while new mobile messaging communities evolve, and therefore we feel the industry requires a different type of body to oversee its development and standardisation. As the original pioneers of the open messaging interface, LogicaCMG is proud of the key role it has played in the success of SMS, and we will continue to drive messaging innovation in the future.”