Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR announce a user trial for new multimedia communication services for the second half of 2009

The three operators will conduct a user trial on innovative communication services based on the “Rich Communication Suite” standard

Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR acknowledge the growing interest in new forms of multimedia mobile communications. This includes the sharing of images and videos during a call and enriching the address book with live contextual information such as tagline.

Thanks to their experience in communication services, the operators have identified the key success factors to ensure a rapid and large user adoption:
Native integration of services in the address book and smooth and simple user experience,
Interoperability of these new services to allow users to communicate widely with all their contacts,
Standardization of the technical environment, shared by all industry players, to offer these services on a wide range of handsets and ensure an outstanding quality of service.

Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR are contributing members of Rich Communication Suite (RCS), a program which is managed by the GSM Association. These operators, supported by key telecom industry partners, wish to validate the implementation of this promising and pragmatic approach and test its end-to-end operation with users.

The three operators announce a user trial, due to take place in France during the second half of 2009, based on RCS specifications Release 1, adopted by GSMA in December 2008.