User:Sheikhasim
Introduction to SMS Messaging:DEFINATION OF SMS; What is SMS (Short Message Service)? Introduction Short message service is a mechanism of delivery of short messages over the mobile networks. It is a store and forward way of transmitting messages to and from mobiles. The message (text only) from the sending mobile is stored in a central short message center (SMS) which then forwards it to the destination mobile. This means that in the case that the recipient is not available, the short message is stored and can be sent later. Each short message can be no longer than 160 characters. These characters can be text (alphanumeric) or binary Non-Text Short messages. An interesting feature of SMS is return receipts. This means that the sender, if wishes, can get a small message notifying if the short message was delivered to the intended recipient. Since SMS used signaling channel as opposed to dedicated channels, these messages can be sent/received simultaneously with the voice/data/fax service over a GSM network. SMS supports national and international roaming. This means that you can send short messages to any other GSM mobile user around the world. With the PCS networks based on all the three technologies, GSM, CDMA and TDMA supporting SMS, SMS is more or less a universal mobile data service.
HISTORY OF SMS TO PAKISTAN:
Brief history of mobile services in Pakistan. In the earlier days in Pakistan there were only 2 mobile companies (INSTAPHONE AND PAKTEL) operating in the market with the system of AMPS as there was no big competitor of these 2 companies so there were no competition and they used to sell their connection at a very high rate. In the early 90’s a new cellular company from Egypt (MOBILINK) was launched with a broadband GSM (Global system for mobile communication).And after that so many companies came in to being as right now in the market we have TELENOR, WARID, PAKTEL, and U-FONE. And right now 4 million messages are delivered through MOBILINK within 1 day. Cellular service in Pakistan was started in early 1990, currently there are six mobile operators accessible, named PAKTEL (operating on AMPS and GSM technology), INSTAPHONE (operating on AMPS and D-AMPS), MOBILINK (operating on GSM 1800 MHz), U-FONE (operating on GSM 900 MHz), TELENOR and WARID (operating on GSM 1800 MHz and 3GSM). According to an estimation, MOBILINK leads the market share with 3.805 million subscribers while U-FONE has 1.3 million subscribers followed by INSTAPHONE with 0.544 million and PAKTEL with 0.488 million subscribers.
Table. Mobile user in Pakistan Year Total (Approximately) 2002 1,698,550 2003 2,404,400 Jan, 2004 5,022,900 July, 04 5,842,000 Dec, 04 7,805,000 Mar, 05 9,995,000 Dec, 05 (expectably) 15,000,000
TYPES OF SMS:
Concatenated SMS Messages / Long SMS Messages: One drawback of the SMS technology is that one SMS message can only carry a very limited amount of data. To overcome this drawback, an extension called concatenated SMS (also known as long SMS) was developed. A concatenated SMS text message can contain more than 160 English characters. Concatenated SMS works like this: The sender's mobile phone breaks down a long message into smaller parts and sends each of them as a single SMS message. When these SMS messages reach the destination, the recipient mobile phone will combine them back to one long message. The drawback of concatenated SMS is that it is less widely supported than SMS on wireless devices.
EMS (Enhanced Messaging Service): Besides the data size limitation, SMS has another major drawback -- an SMS message cannot include rich-media content such as pictures, animations and melodies. EMS (Enhanced Messaging Service) was developed in response to this. It is an application-level extension of SMS. An EMS message can include pictures, animations and melodies. Also, the formatting of the text inside an EMS message is changeable. For example, the message sender can specify whether the text in an EMS message should be displayed in bold or italic, with a large font or a asmall font. The drawback of EMS is that it is less widely supported than SMS on wireless devices. Also, many EMS-enabled wireless devices only support a subset of the features defined in the EMS specification. A certain EMS feature may be supported on one wireless device but not on the other.
What Makes SMS Messaging So Successful In Pakistan: SMS is so successful in Pakistan especially in youth generation because it’s a cheapest mode of communication rather than voice. The number of SMS messages exchanged every day is enormous. SMS messaging is now one of the most important revenue sources of wireless carriers. What is so special about SMS that makes it so popular in Pakistan are as under.
SMS Messages can be Sent and Read at Any Time: Nowadays, almost every person has a mobile phone and carries it most of the time. With a mobile phone, you can send and read SMS messages at any time, no matter you are in your office, on a bus or at home.
SMS Messages can be Sent to an Offline Mobile Phone: Unlike a phone call, you can send an SMS message to your friend even when he/she has not switched on the mobile phone or when he/she is in a place where the wireless signal is temporarily unavailable. The SMS system of the mobile network operator will store the SMS message and later send it to your friend when his/her mobile phone is online.
SMS Messaging is Less Disturbing While You can Still Stay in Touch: Unlike a phone call, you do not need to read or reply an SMS message immediately. Besides, writing and reading SMS messages do not make any noise. While you have to run out of a theater or library to answer a phone call, you do not need to do so if SMS messaging is used. . Market SMS application in Pakistan; There are many different kinds of SMS applications on the market today and many others are being developed. Applications in which SMS messaging can be utilized are virtually unlimited. Some of them are discussed as under. Person-to-Person Text Messaging: Person-to-person text messaging is the most commonly used SMS application and it is what the SMS technology was originally designed for.
Provision of Information: A popular application of the SMS technology other than person-to-person text messaging is the provision of information to mobile users. Many content providers make use of SMS text messages to send information such as news, weather report and financial data to their subscribers in Pakistan as well as all around the world.
Downloading: SMS messages can carry binary data and so SMS can be used as the transport medium of wireless downloads.
Alerts and Notifications: SMS is a very suitable technology for delivering alerts and notifications of important events. This is because of two reasons: A mobile phone is a device that is carried by its owner most of the time. Whenever an SMS text message is received, the mobile phone will notify you by giving out a sound or by vibrating. You can check what the SMS text message contains immediately. SMS technology allows the "push" of information. This is different from the "pull" model where a device has to poll the server regularly in order to check whether there is any new information. The "pull" model is less suitable for alert and notification applications, since it wastes bandwidth and increases server load. Some common examples of SMS alert and notification applications are described below.
Email, Fax and Voice Message Notifications: In an email notification system, a server sends a text message to the user's mobile phone whenever an email arrives at the inbox. The SMS text message can include the sender's email address, the subject and the first few lines of the email body. An email notification system may allow the user to customize various filters so that an SMS alert is sent only if the email message contains certain keywords or if the email sender is an important person. The use cases for fax or voice message are similar.
E-commerce and Credit Card Transaction Alerts: Whenever an e-commerce or credit card transaction is made, the server sends a text message to the user's mobile phone. The user can know immediately whether any unauthorized transaction has been made.
Stock Market Alerts: In a stock market alert application, a program is constantly monitoring and analyzing the stock market. If a certain condition is satisfied, the program will send a text message to the user's mobile phone to notify him/her of the situation. For example, you can configure the alert system such that if the stock price of a company is lower than a certain value or drops by a certain percentage, it will send an SMS alert to you.
Remote System Monitoring: In a remote system monitoring application, a program (sometimes with the help of a group of sensors) is constantly monitoring the status of a remote system. If a certain condition is satisfied, the program will send a text message to the system administrator to notify him/her of the situation. For example, a program may be written to "ping" a server regularly. If no response is received from the server, the program can send an SMS alert to the system administrator to notify him/her that the server may be hanged.
SMS Marketing:
SMS messaging can be used as a marketing tool. An example is an SMS newsletter system. After signing up, the user will receive SMS text messages about the latest discounts and products of the company. If the user has any question or comment, he/she can send a text message back with the question or comment in it. The company may include its phone number in the SMS newsletter so that the user can talk to the customer service staff directly if he/she wants to do so.
Use of SMS technology in mass media in Pakistan (Past and future): SMS: the walking, talking and watching communication
In the world where technological advancements seem to be taking new shape every day, the decade-old phenomenon of text messaging through mobile phones has become another mass medium of communication. It is no more a new thing here in our society. Faced with the wealth of fast penetrating information and communication technologies, the important thing is to understand this trend and make best use of it. The first text message was sent in 1992 and Short Messaging Service (SMS) was launched commercially for the first time in 1995. Now billions of messages are exchanged globally. Message exchanges are of all types: fun, greeting, reminding, alerting, and business. They are quick, efficient and convenient form of a written communication. They are not intrusive and recipients can choose when they want to read and respond like email. And unlike email, recipients can send and receive messages any time and anywhere; while walking, talking or watching cricket match. The mobile phone service came in Pakistan in 1991 (remember when a few used to be seen shoulder carrying bigger telephone sets that were then considered status symbols). Two different systems are in use for providing mobile services: Analogue Mobile Phone System (AMPS) and Global System for Mobile communication (GSM). The GSM is being used by MOBILINK and U-FONE networks while PAKTEL and INSTAPHONE are using AMPS. Often the technologies and products which become ubiquitous fast are not what they were originally planned, expected or anticipated for. SMS for example was in the beginning viewed only as a small function added to the mobile phone. No one imagined the enormous social and commercial employment of the technology, until it has happened. In the first place, even the mobile phone was not meant to be the omnipresent personal communication tool that it has become in such a short span of time. It was invented as a communications solution for remote areas where telephone landlines could not provide service. "Mobile phone is a necessity and not luxury," now every one thinks. These days, one comes across people carrying more than one mobile phone on them. In the last ten years there has been a rapid expansion in numbers and growing sophistication in the design and functions of mobile handsets. Most handsets sold in local market allow origination of text messages.(Ali RIZVI, MOBILINK) ( FAHIM AHMAD,PTCL)
The present state of SMS in Pakistan: SMS has seen unprecedented growth in the last few years. In Pakistan SMS has already crossed 1 billion messages per month mark. The current figures and projections clearly demonstrate the popularity of SMS in Pakistan. The international figures are not much different. In many parts of Pakistan people are spending more on SMS as compared to voice services. In other parts of the city SMS is very popular and the popularity especially among young people continues to rise. (KAMAL SIDDIQI,THE NEWS)
Limitations of SMS in Pakistan: There is no doubt that SMS has been very popular.. What is more interesting to observe is that this popularity has been inspire of many limitations of SMS. Many of these limitations are the driving force behind the developments and initiatives being taken in the field of short messaging. Some of the limitations of SMS are: • Messages are plain vanilla in nature. You can only send simple text messages. There is no scope for any graphics or audio. • The messages are limited by size of 160 characters
Basic Concepts of SMS Technology In Pakistan:
Validity Period of an SMS Message: An SMS message is stored temporarily in the SMS center if the recipient mobile phone is offline. It is possible to specify the period after which the SMS message will be deleted from the SMS center so that the SMS message will not be forwarded to the recipient mobile phone when it becomes online. This period is called the validity period. Here is an example that illustrates how validity period can be used. Suppose you find a very interesting program that is showing on TV now. You think your friend may want to watch it. So, you send a text message to tell your friend about the TV program. Let's say the TV program lasts for an hour. Your SMS text message will not be useful to your friend if his mobile phone is not available before the program finishes. In this situation, you may want to send a text message with a validity period of one hour to your friend. The wireless carrier will not deliver the SMS text message to your friend if his mobile phone is not available before the validity period ends. A mobile phone should have a menu option that can be used to set the validity period. After setting it, the mobile phone will include the validity period in the outbound SMS messages automatically.
Message Status Reports: Sometimes you may want to know whether an SMS message has reached the recipient mobile phone successfully. To get this information, you need to set a flag in the SMS message to notify the SMS center that you want a status report about the delivery of this SMS message. The status report is sent to you in the form of an SMS message. A mobile phone should have a menu option that can be used to set whether the status report feature is on or off. After setting it, the mobile phone will set the corresponding flag in the outbound SMS messages for you automatically. The status report feature is turned off by default on most mobile phones and GSM / GPRS modems.
Message Submission Reports: After leaving the mobile phone, an SMS message goes to the SMS center. When it reaches the SMS center, the SMS center will send back a message submission report to the mobile phone to inform whether there is any error or failure (e.g. incorrect SMS message format, busy SMS center, etc). If there is no error or failure, the SMS center sends back a positive submission report to the mobile phone. Otherwise it sends back a negative submission report to the mobile phone. The mobile phone may then notify the user that the message submission was failed and what caused the failure. If the mobile phone does not receive the message submission report after a period of time, it concludes that the message submission report has been lost. The mobile phone may then re-send the SMS message to the SMS center. A flag will be set in the new SMS message to inform the SMS center that this SMS message has been sent before. If the previous message submission was successful, the SMS center will ignore the new SMS message but send back a message submission report to the mobile phone. This mechanism prevents the sending of the same SMS message to the recipient multiple times. Sometimes the message submission report mechanism is not used and the acknowledgement of message submission is done in a lower layer.
Message Delivery Reports: After receiving an SMS message, the recipient mobile phone will send back a message delivery report to the SMS center to inform whether there is any error or failure (example causes: unsupported SMS message format, not enough storage space, etc). This process is transparent to the mobile user. If there is no error or failure, the recipient mobile phone sends back a positive delivery report to the SMS center. Otherwise it sends back a negative delivery report to the SMS center. If the sender requested a status report earlier, the SMS center sends a status report to the sender when it receives the message delivery report from the recipient. If the SMS center does not receive the message delivery report after a period of time, it concludes that the message delivery report has been lost. The SMS center then re-sends the SMS message to the recipient. Sometimes the message delivery report mechanism is not used and the acknowledgement of message delivery is done in a lower layer.
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SMS as a trend in Pakistan:
SMS THROUGH WWW: In general, there are two ways to send SMS messages from a computer / PC to a mobile phone: Connect a mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to a computer / PC. Then use the computer / PC and AT commands to instruct the mobile phone or GSM/GPRS modem to send SMS messages. Connect the computer / PC to the SMS center (SMSC) or SMS gateway of a wireless carrier or SMS service provider. Then send SMS messages using a protocol / interface supported by the SMSC or SMS gateway.
ADVERTISING THROUGH SMS: Advertising will be more common in near future through this mode of communication as it helps the organization to make them easy to promote their product through SMS.
PROBLEMS FACED BY EARLY SMS:
In the early days SMS was not very authentic and it was very slow and no message would be delivered from aims connection but it has been possible after the GSM.
FEATURES OF SMS NETWORKING IN PAKISTAN: You can transform big message by a short message service and messages could be transferred from 1 person to another within a second.
SMS through PTCL. In earlier days there were no services who was providing short message service from PTCL to other cellular networks but recently PTCL has launched a new network GO- CDMA which enables the user to send SMS from PTCL to other cellular networks.
National/International SMS Messages: A national SMS message is an SMS message that is sent from one wireless network operator to another wireless network operator in the same country, while an international SMS message is an SMS message that is sent from a wireless network operator in one country to a wireless network operator in another country.
Usually the cost for sending an international SMS message from a mobile phone is higher than that for sending a local inter-operator SMS message as there are so many companies nowadays so the fare rate of national and international rate has decreased very much and everyone do it easily and by that you can transform your views in a very low cost nationally as well as globally.
REMOTE AREAS COVERAGE:
As the technology is growing up day by day and there are so many companies who has a biggest network throughout Pakistan and they are covering even the remote areas of Pakistan.
UPDATES THROUGH SMS: Cellular companies are providing this service to their user that they can get all the updated news regarding political, social, economical and sports of Pakistan, SMS AS A TREND IN PAKISTAN:
SMS – e business: SMS has become a new source of marketing of any products. Many companies wants to do it in near future as the users are increasing day by day.
SMS AS A GOVERNMENT SUPPORT:
After a slow start following the transition from a regulated state-owned monopoly to a deregulated competitive structure, Pakistan’s telecom sector is now moving into a period of what could well be phenomenal growth. Fixed-line penetration stood at a low 3.5% (5.3 million lines) in early 2005 and there is plenty of room for further expansion. The government is continuing to pursue its targeted national Tele density of 7% (around 10 million lines) by 2010. To achieve this target, around 1 million additional lines need to be installed every year. Pakistan’s mobile sector, which had started to grow strongly over the last few years, rocketed to 10.5 million subscribers (7% penetration) by April 2005 and was gearing up for further growth. The mobile population has been increasing at a staggering 120% annually. The government’s reform plans are being progressively implemented and this is certainly starting to have some impact on the market. The country’s four mobile operators have been joined by two new operators - WARID Telecom and TELENOR Pakistan - following a decision by the government to issue two additional mobile licences. (One of the new arrivals, TELENOR, attracted over 650,000 customers in the first two months following launch.) An important aspect of reforming the telecom sector, the privatization of Pakistan Telecom, remained unresolved and must be addressed as part of the essential restructuring. Social impact of SMS in Pakistan: SMS has caused subtle but interesting changes in society since it became popular. News-worthy events include (in chronological order):
Academic impact • In December 2005, a cheating scheme was uncovered during final-exam week at the University. A dozen students were caught cheating on an accounting exam through the use of text messages on their cell phones. • In December 2005, failed 26 students for receiving e-mailed exam answers on their cell phones. Criminal impact Most of the criminals in Pakistan don’t want to talk on the phone SMS help them easy to communicate. Social development: In 2003, a Malaysian court ruled that, under law, a man may divorce his wife via text messaging as long as the message was clear and unequivocal. but it is not occurred in Pakistan.
SCOPE OF SMS IN PAKISTAN:
The scope of SMS in Pakistan is very bright as SMS is the cheapest mode of communication rather than voice call. As it has a large profound effect on our generation, especially in younger generation and as well as on our society. And all the companies supported this mode of communication a lot as now we have lots of SMS services through various mobile networks as well as through internet especially. Overall SMS has become indispensable for public. Mobile phone excitement is rapidly increased in Pakistan due to low connection costs either pre-paid or post-paid packages and cheaper mobile phone sets. Everyone from top business executives to daily wagers look busy on mobile phones in public places, in offices, on roads and in marketplaces in developing countries like Pakistan. The number of cellular phones has increased about 300 percent in Pakistan during the last two years .
In Pakistan, millions of people have the mobile phones for availing the services of voice, especially short messaging service(SMS), GPRS, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). Cellular phones play a vital role in business industries and due to e-banking facility provided by different banks, a lot of people interested to use cellular technology and check their bank statements or pay bills via mobile phones.(Ali RIZVI, MOBILINK),(KAMAL SIDDIQI, THE NEWS)