Press Room: 2002
AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless Lead in Performance on Keynote Wireless SMS Index for April through June
New Keynote Benchmark Will Address Specific Needs of Inter-carrier Messaging
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SAN MATEO, Calif., — September 16, 2002 — Keynote Systems, (Nasdaq: KEYN), the Internet Performance Authority® announced today the aggregate results of its Wireless SMS Index for April 1 through June 30. The index provides a benchmark for comparison for the performance of Short Message Service (SMS) for intra-carrier messaging - SMS messages sent and received on the same network. Although the service from the carriers measured generally performs well and reliably, a few statistics catch the attention as important.
The average performance for all carriers was 11.8 seconds to receive a message and 94.7 percent of all messages arrived at their destination. While these numbers are an improvement over the prior three months, the 94.7 percent availability could represent a significant loss of information and business when the number of lost messages is calculated. (See tables below)
During the recent three month period AT&T Wireless led the group with the fastest performance, averaging 7.1 seconds; then ranking in order: Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile (Voicestream) and Nextel. Verizon Wireless took the top spot for availability with an average of 98.5%.
Keynote also announced plans for a new inter-carrier (cross carrier) SMS benchmark to be launched later this quarter. The measurements, which are taken automatically every sixty minutes using the Keynote Wireless Perspective™ service, for the first time will provide carriers with visibility into the performance of Short Message Service (SMS) once a message leaves their network. The Keynote Wireless SMS Benchmark addresses the unique problems presented by sending messages between networks and is designed to give carriers a benchmark for continued improvement of transfer of messages between all carriers to provide consistent and reliable performance for customers using SMS.
According to analysts at the Yankee Group "some significant hurdles have inhibited the uptake and widespread adoption of SMS in North America. Foremost among these challenges has been the lack of cross-carrier SMS interoperability." The analyst group predicts, however, with that and other obstacles to SMS adoption eroding, active users of SMS will increase in the United States from 13.4 million in 2002 to 95.1 million in the year 2006, and that within two years 5% of carrier revenues will be generated by SMS (up from approximately 1% today).
To determine the performance of inter-carrier messaging, Keynote uses wireless devices from all major networks and sends messages between carriers, measuring the time it takes for a message to be received from a mobile originate to a mobile terminate handset. Measurements are taken from multiple locations across the US.
"Keynote chose to measure SMS performance as the first index for wireless data services due to its high growth rate in the US market," said Chuck Mount, general manager of Keynote's Wireless Perspective service. "Now Inter-carrier or cross-carrier messaging is also a reality and driving adoption by consumers. It does, however, add more layers of complexity, creating a real need for performance measurement and for industry performance standards."
Wireless Perspective is the only benchmarking service to provide availability and performance measurement for WAP and SMS multi-step transactions as well as ring tone and picture graphic downloads and support for inter-carrier messaging. Wireless Perspective is part of Keynote's Total Performance Strategy for benchmarking, testing and managing the end-to end performance of e-business applications and systems.
"The goal of the Keynote Wireless SMS Indices is to raise the awareness of SMS performance, establish performance benchmarks, and help improve the quality of SMS performance in the U.S," said Mount. "As is the case with Keynote's other industry benchmarks, the results will help the industry establish the effectiveness of the various components contributing to SMS performance and establish industry benchmarks for performance and availability."
Keynote Wireless SMS Index Results
Aggregate results of the Keynote Wireless SMS Index for the three months, from April 1 through June 30, 2002:
Table 1.0 Average Performance
Network Operator |
Performance (in seconds) |
|---|---|
SMS Index |
11.8 |
AT&T Wireless |
7.1 |
Verizon Wireless |
7.8 |
Cingular Wireless |
7.9 |
Sprint PCS |
12.7 |
T-Mobile (Voicestream) |
14.2 |
Nextel Wireless |
24.6 |
Table 2.0 Average Availability
Network Operator |
Performance (in seconds) |
|---|---|
SMS Index |
94.7% |
Verizon Wireless |
98.5% |
Nextel Wireless |
96.9% |
AT&T Wireless |
96.2% |
Cingular Wireless |
93.9% |
T-Mobile (Voicestream) |
92.3% |
Sprint PCS |
90.1% |
About the Keynote Wireless SMS Index
The Keynote Wireless SMS Index is an independent metric of the experience of users sending and receiving Short Message Service (SMS), or text messages to mobile handsets. Each measurement consists of a SMS message sent to a wireless handset. The message is originated by sending an email to a particular phone number at the correct email domain for each carrier. The Index establishes performance goals and benchmarks for wireless operators to deliver superior Quality of Experience (QoE) to their customers and helps enterprise customers and consumers make better-informed decisions about the providers they use.
To produce the Index, Keynote uses its Wireless Perspective™ Service to measure the average response time and availability of sending and receiving SMS messages through six US wireless networks: AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless, Nextel Wireless, Sprint PCS, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile (Voicestream). For additional information about Wireless Perspective see http://www.keynote.com/solutions/solutions_pm_wireless_perspective_tpl.html.
Measured performance depends on factors such as geographic location, wireless network coverage, email server performance and network infrastructure at each measurement location. The performance experienced by an individual user in one of the cities measured may be better or worse than the Index average depending on the user's connection to the wireless network, RF signal strength, and other factors.
About Keynote
Keynote Systems (Nasdaq "KEYN"), The Internet Performance Authority®, is the worldwide leader in Internet performance management services that improve the quality of e-business. Keynote's services enable corporate enterprises to benchmark, diagnose, test and manage their e-business systems both inside and outside the firewall. More than 2,400 corporate IT departments and 18,000 individual subscribers rely on the company's easy-to-use and cost-effective services to optimize revenues and reduce downtime costs without requiring additional complex and costly software implementations.
Keynote Systems, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California. The company can be reached at www.keynote.com or by phone in the U.S. at 650-403-2400.
© 2002 Keynote Systems, Inc. The Internet Performance Authority is a registered trademark. Wireless Perspective is a trademark of Keynote in the United States and/or other countries.
Editorial Contact
Della Lowe, Keynote Systems, (650) 403-3233, dlowe@keynote.com
