Orange has launched multimedia messaging service (MMS) in the UK and promised availability throughout Europe over the next few months.

Users of the SonyEricsson T68i and Nokia 7650 will be able to send and receive MMS to other handsets and e-mail addresses. Those without a compatible handset will receive a text notification enabling them to retrieve the message from the Orange web-site. Orange has priced the service at GBP 0.40 to send a message. MMS alerts, such as news and weather, will cost GBP 0.25 to receive. Orange is targeting 40% penetration of MMS by 2005 and plans to work with other operators to ensure messages can be exchanged between networks.

David Taylor, Commercial Director of Orange UK, said: “These new messaging services open up an exciting new world for the Orange community. Our customers will be among the first in Europe to use these new photo and picture content services, enabling them to communicate on a much more personal level – from capturing the moment their child takes their first steps to taking a photo of their new sports car. The mobile industry is at the beginning of a new era. The network operators, handset manufacturers and the whole industry must work together to grow this market for the future. That means we at Orange will be calling for network interoperability as soon as possible. Both network and handset interoperability will be the key drivers for industry growth. The services we are launching today are just the first in a range of Orange vision-based services as we move towards video messaging, video downloads and video streaming which will also be launching in the near future.”