The agreement brings Telstra and Optus mobile customers a step closer to being able to send messages containing images, video and sound to each other across the competing networks. Optus and Vodafone signed an in-principle agreement to pursue MMS-interconnect deal last December in an attempt to persuade consumers to adopt the service.
It is understood that the carriers are hoping MMS uptake among consumers will match the popularity of the text-based, Short-Message Service, SMS.
"We have seen phenomenal growth in SMS messaging since inter-carrier SMS began in April 2000," said Telstra director of Mobile Marketing, David Scribner. "On average, Australian consumers send more than 300 million SMS messages each month, which demonstrates the appeal of non-voice forms of communication."
The two carriers are banking on MMS to provide them with be an alternative revenue stream to SMS, which currently accounts for around 90 percent of all mobile data revenue.
Users who send MMS content between networks will pay a standard fee of 75 cents per message.
However, the announcement raises questions about whether consumers are ready for the new service which can only be used with newer MMS-capable handsets. Telstra, reluctant to let customers with older mobiles impede their revenues, said those customers without MMS capable phones would receive MMS as a text message informing them where they can retrieve the richer image and video content from the Web.
