MMS back on line, just don’t tell anyone about it

CYTA’s multi media messaging (MMS) service that was started in December 2003 and quickly suspended due to problems of heavy usage has been reintroduced to mobile phone users since January 12, but CyTA chose not to tell anyone about it for fear the system would again be overloaded.

Unlike the initial launch, CyTA did not advertise the reintroduction of the MMS operation to avoid the whole population of mobile phone users overloading the system, CyTA’s Paris Menelaou told the Cyprus Mail.

Menelaou said yesterday the reason the mms service had failed the first time was due to the unexpected heavy usage, because it was being offered for free. “People were excited with the prospect of the service and we were not prepared to cater to so many users, so the system was inevitably jammed.

“We have now upgraded the system and do not expect any further problems. The service is still on a trial basis and users will be made to pay for mms as of February 1,” said Menelaou.

The MMS service provides mobile phone owners with the capability to send photos, text, sounds, colours and images to other mobiles. To activate the MMS service, mobile phone users must send a message that says ON MMS to the number 2000 and they will automatically be able to send MMS messages.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.