Microsoft, Sun charge into mobile billing
C|Net | at | by Mike
Microsoft and Sun Microsystems have strengthened their lineup of products that allow cell phone companies to bill for downloads such as games or ring tones. The moves signal a new battle brewing between the two software heavyweights to win a dwindling share of spending by cell phone service providers.
Providers are turning to downloads as a new revenue source. But most have billing systems that are a jumble of sometimes decades-old software, the result of mergers of different phone companies that created modern giants such as Verizon Communications and Verizon Wireless.
"There's a lot of hokey Band-Aid type of things so carriers can charge for voice systems, let alone the downloads they want to do," said Michael Doherty, a telecom analyst at market research firm Ovum.