Sending an SMS to a mobile phone is pretty straight forward. All mobiles can accept them and send them.
When it comes to pictures, sound or video the situation is somewhat different. They can either be sent by MMS or via a link to the file or a wap site.
The link/wap site option is the most straight forward on a technical level - it can be sent in an SMS so it is almost universal for mobile users. The problem comes when the mobile users tries to access the link. Some networks (such as 3) do not automatically enable their phones for wap links, and most require an 18+ registration for non-portal sites.
However once that wap/internet connection is enabled, the problem is the cost of the downloads. On some monthly rental tariffs they allow some data transfer within set limits. Above a few megabytes they start to charge. The networks charge between £1 and £7 per megabyte of download.
So to download a 3 minute song - which is around 3 megabytes the user could pay £21 to their network for the privilage. Of course this is not made clear in contracts or tariffs.
Is there a solution? Well I think there is. In an idea world the networks should offer their data connection in the same way as home internet - just a simple flat rate. In fact if the mobile phone operators wanted to sell shed loads of 3g phones the best way would be to offer the data-connection at a home broadband price - £17 per month with high download limits.
Until then, the option that we are exploring is pre-paying for the data - it is a few pence per megabyte and can be incorporated into our existing system.
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