Nokia's Smart Messaging technology will be key element in new Wireless Application Protocol

Nokia's statement coincides with an announcement made today by Nokia and other major vendors stating the companies' intent to cooperate in defining a common protocol for interactive wireless applications. The purpose of the Wireless Application Protocol is to expand the usage of wireless data by providing a de facto platform for developing new value-added services.

"This will be the next step in the evolution of wireless data communications," said Reijo Paajanen, Senior Vice President for Wireless Data at Nokia Mobile Phones. "Our aim is to get a base for a common protocol that the market can comprehend as future-proof. Also, the protocol will be backwards compatible and therefore able to support both existing and future products. End users will benefit from the fast and easy way of accessing information directly from their handsets."

Presented initially in March, the Nokia-developed Smart Messaging Technology is an essential element of the Wireless Application Protocol, guaranteeing an evolutionary path for the current installed base of smart messaging users and new Smart Messaging and TTML-enabled products to be released in the near future. Around the world today, the two most rapid growth segments in the communication and information industries are the wireless and Internet markets. With trends in wireless moving from voice-only to voice and data usage, there is a growing need for closer interaction and interoperability. Nokia's Smart Messaging Technology achieves this by seamlessly combining Internet and content access with wireless telephony.

Nokia is the first manufacturer to offer a complete solution of its Smart Messaging technology to network operators and service providers. Communication between the phone and World Wide Web pages is conducted via an advanced network server. Based on the specifications, Nokia has also developed the Nokia Artus Messaging Platform and the NetGate functionality (known in the United States as TTML Gateway) in the Nokia Short Message Service Centre (SMSC) that enables network operators and third-party providers to offer information from the Internet to subscribers. The communication between the phone and the server is based on open Tagged Text Mark-Up Language (TTML) technology that is optimized for narrowband connections, such as Short Messaging.

Nokia is the world's largest manufacturer of digital mobile phones and one of the two largest suppliers of GSM networks with sales in approximately 130 countries. Nokia is also the global leader in wireless data. With net sales totaling more $8.5 billion in 1996, Nokia employs over 33,000 people in 45 countries.