AT&T to introduce MMS for iPhone on Sept. 25

Six months after Apple confirmed its iPhone OS 3.0 software update would include support for multimedia messaging services, U.S. operator partner AT&T announced it will finally introduce MMS for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS users on Sept. 25. AT&T said it will release a software update to facilitate the new MMS functionality. "The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone's multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One," AT&T said in a statement. "Wireless use on our network has grown an average of 350 percent year-over-year for the past two years, and is projected to continue at a rapid pace in 2009 and beyond."

The iPhone OS 3.0 software update also extended support for data tethering, but AT&T has still not set a date when it will introduce the feature to its subscribers. "By its nature, this function could exponentially increase traffic on the network, and we need to ensure that some of our current upgrades are in place before we can deliver the expanded functionality with the excellent performance that customers expect," the carrier said in a statement. "We expect to offer tethering in the future." AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega said in November 2008 that an official iPhone tethering option would be announced "soon."

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