Unisys and Nokia join to drive global multimedia messaging services adoption.

Unisys Corporation (NYSE:UIS) and Nokia (NYSE:NOK) have announced an agreement that will further accelerate the adoption of Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) in the global marketplace--and give telecommunications providers another potential stream of revenue.

According to the agreement, Unisys will sell and market the Nokia MMS solution to mobile operators and service providers globally. The MMS solution will be available from Unisys within the month.

The MMS solution offered by Unisys will be a high-capacity multimedia messaging platform for person-to-person mobile messaging and content access. Under the agreement, Unisys will resell Nokia's market-leading end-to-end multimedia messaging solution to Unisys telecommunications clients.

These clients will then be able to act as a bridge between content providers and millions of end-user customers who desire comprehensive and versatile MMS services. In addition, Unisys will offer systems integration and support services, as well as its expertise in providing solutions specifically for the communications industry.

The Nokia MMS solution includes the Nokia Multimedia Messaging Service Center (MMSC), the Nokia Multimedia Application Gateway, the Nokia WAP Gateway and the Nokia Profile Server.

The core of the solution, the Nokia MMS Center, is a scalable and high-capacity service platform targeted at mobile operators and service providers who want to offer new interactive and rich media content to their subscribers.

The solution features include personalized profiling options, support for non-MMS enabled terminals, intelligent email connectivity, voice messaging over MMS, and long-term message storage with personal multimedia albums.

According to Michael J. Reuschel, president, Unisys Global Communications and Media Industry, "This agreement expands our success in the enhanced services/value-added services area of telecommunications operators to the MMS marketplace. The combination of Nokia MMS solution and Unisys MMS applications experience serves as an important junction between the traditional voice world and multi-media services."

"MMS is at the forefront of new mobile services that provide operators, service and content providers with new revenue sources and large amount of business opportunities. Subscribers can enjoy personalized messages combining images, text and audio," says Niklas Savander, senior vice president, Nokia Mobile Software. "Nokia has the industry's strongest track record in creating powerful MMS products and solutions. We are now very pleased to collaborate with Unisys--a proven market leader in the MMS applications area--in order to further accelerate MMS adoption."

Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a messaging service that lets users of mobile handsets to create, send and receive messages combining text, images, graphics, audio and even video clips in a single rich message. MMS is an open industry standard designed to work across various mobile networks, including GSM, GPRS, CDMA and WCDMA networks.

Operators across the globe are enabling MMS services for their mobile customers while mobile handset manufacturers are delivering MMS-capable mobile devices to consumers.