Multimedia Messaging Service

[8] The 3GPP and WAP Forum groups fostered the development of the MMS standard, which was then continued by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA).

If it supports the standards for receiving MMS, the content is extracted and sent to a temporary storage server with an HTTP front-end.

If the receiver's handset is not MMS capable, the message is usually delivered to a web-based service from where the content can be viewed from a normal web browser.

MMS does not utilize operator-maintained "data" plans to distribute multimedia content; they are used only if the user clicks links inside the message.

On the reception side, the content servers can typically receive service requests both from WAP and normal HTTP browsers, so delivery via the web is simple.

[14] Due to lower cost and improved functionality provided by modern internet-based instant messengers such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal, MMS usage has declined,[15] and it has been discontinued by several telcos since the early 2020s.

Countries with operators that have discontinued MMS include: India (BSNL; from 1 November 2015),[16] Philippines (Sun Cellular, Smart Communications, TNT; from 28 September 2018),[17] Singapore (Singtel, M1, Starhub; from 16 November 2021),[18] Kazakhstan (Kcell; from 6 May 2022),[19] Switzerland (Swisscom, Salt Mobile; from 10 January 2023),[20][21] Germany (Vodafone; from 17 January 2023).