Easy Money

American wireless operators finally wised up. They implemented two-way short messaging service gateways and opened their networks to other carriers' SMS traffic, and to the surprise of no one, it was an overnight success.

Now Verizon Wireless wants more. The carrier partnered with Motorola to develop an SMS router that lets third parties plug and play applications like interactive games and downloadable ringtones. All they need is certification and testing — and, of course, Verizon's blessing — to plug into the carrier's network.

Though most of the functionality is based on a standard SMS center, the router makes provisioning and setting up databases a snap. For Verizon, it's easy money. Auto-provisioning is included in every handset the company sells, so customers buy a phone and a plan, then use SMS on a pay-as-they-go basis.

Verizon contributed about 30% of the sweat required to develop the product, defining and correcting network bugs. (And, we hope, mopping up all that sweat). Now Motorola has a commercial product it can take to the market. “It's very easy to put in the network,” said Jenny Shin, product manager for Motorola. “The actual install and deployment takes less than a week.”

Shin said the router is a no-brainer: “SMS is a cheap service and can make carriers a lot of money.” Making money — what a novel idea.