Polkomtel to launch MMS, but will price hold it back?

On Friday Polkomtel, the operator of the Plus GSM mobile phone network, which is the second largest GSM operator, will launch its commercial MMS (Multimedia Message System) services. The cost of sending a standard MMS message (50 kB) will be zl. 2 plus VAT. The service will be available to all subscribers and activation is free of charge. Plus GSM expects to sell about 10,000 MMS phones by the end of the year. Their main competitor, Era, which started the same services a couple of days ago, will not charge for MMSs until September 11, yet, the service is restricted to mobile to mobile transmission, whereas Polkomtel allows its customers to send information to an e-mail address. Polish GSM operators are one of the first in the world to offer such services. However, price could still be an initial barrier as the telephones equipped with MMS are quite expensive, zl. 999, and is the price under a promotional offer. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B5) K.S.