My Mobile Applications, a mobile messaging services company with one of the most reliable communications networks across North America and Latin America, has partnered with 3Cinteractive, an industry leading mobile technology firm, to provide businesses a high quality mobile messaging, short message service (SMS), Premium SMS, and multimedia message service (MMS) solution.

My Mobile Applications has selected 3Cinteractive to handle all of the aggregation and migration of all of their SMS in the United States on AT&T, Sprint-Nextel, and Verizon Wireless. This includes the processing of millions of messages using My Mobile Applications’ and 3Cinteractive’s services to deploy powerful and complex mobile messaging functions.

3Cinteractive is pleased to announce Chris Tranquellino as the newest member of our team. Chris brings his experience in product management, technology, application design, marketing and project management to his role as our Senior Product Manager.

Prior to joining 3Ci, Chris was responsible for mobile project and product development with Snackable Media. At Snackable, Chris was responsible for implementation of their consumer website service, mobile platform, and mobile billing integration with aggregators and carriers. He has a very strong understanding of carrier billing requirements, compliance, and transactions.

Prior to Snackable Media, Chris held senior product development and project positions with DayJet, Barnesandnoble.com, and DLJdirect.com. Please join us in welcoming Chris to the 3Ci family.

3Cinteractive is pleased to announce the addition of John Styers to the team. He joins the 3Ci family as our Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Industry Relations.  John brings a wealth of experience and expertise to 3Ci. As a founding member and Executive Board member of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and as Chairman of the Annual Global Messaging Congress in Europe, John is well versed in the wireless ecosystem. He is a frequent speaker at MMA events, 3GSM, the Global Messaging Congress, and CTIA.

John’s expert focus on messaging, enterprise solutions, mobile health (mHealth), and mobile marketing make him an invaluable member of our team. Please join us in welcoming John to 3Ci.

3Cinteractive, along with Neustar, was proud to sponsor the Mobile Marketing Association’s (MMA) 2010 Consumer Best Practices (CBP) Public Forum event. 3Ci also played host to the MMA’s CBP Committee Meeting at our offices in Boca Raton as well as a VIP dinner at the Seagate Beach Club in Delray Beach.

Pictured, left to right: Niki Dunbar, 3Cinteractive; Alison Billings, T-Mobile USA; Mike FitzGibbon
and Mark Smith, 3Cinteractive; and Ryan Martin, U.S. Cellular

By all accounts both the MMA CBP Committee meeting and the Industry Forum were a big hit. All of the feedback regarding the events was tremendous and several highly productive meetings occurred as a result of the forum.

3Ci thanks Neustar, the MMA, the CBP Committee members, and the forum attendees for helping to make this year’s Consumer Best Practices Forum a success, and special thanks go to Kelly Dowling, Jeff Michaud, and Joe Arcadi of the 3Cinteractive team for their efforts.

The forum, held at the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Boca Raton, Florida, discussed the CBP Guidelines, which are produced by the MMA’s CBP Committee (of which 3Cinteractive is a member). The guidelines provide measures of acceptable and unacceptable practices. Updated regularly, these guidelines set the industry standard for cross- carrier mobile content services, such as short messaging service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), shortcode programs, interactive voice response (IVR), and mobile web.

Striking a balance between high impact marketing campaigns and carrier compliance can be difficult to achieve. You want to go mobile, you have to go mobile, but you don’t know how to go mobile. Fortunately, you don’t have to go it alone — 3Ci’s years of experience in the mobile ecosystem helps companies like yours use mobile to market better and smarter. Our upcoming webinar will share techniques for marketing more efficiently and effectively using mobile technology.

Topics include:

     · Strategies for mobile marketing
     · Tips for maintaining compliance with the carriers
     · Interactive marketing techniques to generate leads efficiently and inexpensively

Webinar Details
Learn how to take advantage of mobile marketing to develop high impact campaigns that won’t have a high impact on your budget.

Date and Time
Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at 2:00 PM EST

Duration
45 minutes with question and answer session (30 minute presentation with 15 minute live Q&A)

Who should attend?
Anyone who wants to take their business mobile. No technical experience required.

Speakers
Presented by Jeremy Martin, VP of Business Development and Jeff Michaud, VP of Marketing and Creative at 3Cinteractive.

Technical Requirements
Internet connection and phone line or computer speakers.

Cost
Complimentary (with access to a downloadable archive version after webcast).

Registration
You can register for this event online. We look forward to your taking part.

Today the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is scheduled to announce new rules that will prohibit interstate commercial truckers and bus drivers from sending text messages (or SMS) while they are operating moving vehicles.

At an October summit on the subject of distracted driving, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood pledged to crack down on distracted driving by truckers and bus drivers. He also indicated that the DOT would establish rules governing not just the use of phones and other devices by truckers and bus drivers to text and talk, but also the use of computers mounted on dashboards that are used to communicate with dispatchers.

The Department of Transportation said that it is still working on additional regulations that would govern the use of such computers by truckers, as well as when truckers are allowed to use cellphones for conversation. Truckers and bus drivers who violate the new rules on SMS, which are effective immediately, face civil or criminal fines of up to $2,750.

While the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute research study found that those truckers who used on-board computers faced a ten times greater risk of crashing, nearly crashing or wandering from their lane than truckers who did not use those devices, that figure is lower than the 23 times greater risk when truckers texted.

This is could be a lead reason why the DOT began issuing regulations banning texting. “We want the drivers of big rigs and buses and those who share the road with them to be safe,” Secretary LaHood said in a news release. “This is an important safety step and we will be taking more to eliminate the threat of distracted driving.”

States in dark blue ban texting for all drivers. Light blue indicates states weighing legislation to ban texting for all drivers. Gray indicates states with no active legislation. White indicates states with no legislative session scheduled for 2010. Click to enlarge.

Leading the charge for “taking more” steps to eliminate distracted driving may be the states. Twenty-three states are debating legislation to ban texting while driving, a practice that 19 states currently prohibit. One hundred ninety-four bills concerning various forms of distracted driving, including texting, are being debated in 34 states.

According to the Department of Transportation, 5,870 people — 16% of all highway fatalities — died in distracted-driving crashes and 515,000 were injured in 2008.

Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has introduced federal legislation to ban texting or emailing while driving. States that don’t go along with the proposed ban would risk losing 25% of their federal highway funds.

3Cinteractive and Neustar are proud sponsors of the Mobile Marketing Association’s (MMA) 2010 Consumer Best Practices (CBP) Public Forum event, scheduled for February 5, 2010, at the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Boca Raton, Florida. The forum is an open dialog to solicit feedback from all players in the mobile marketing ecosystem with regard to the MMA’s U.S. CBP Guidelines for Cross-Carrier Mobile Content Services document.

Produced by the MMA’s CBP Committee (of which 3Cinteractive is a member), the CBP Guidelines provide measures of acceptable and unacceptable practices. Updated regularly, these guidelines set the industry standard for cross- carrier mobile content services, such as short messaging service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), shortcode programs, interactive voice response (IVR), and mobile web.

You can register register to attend the CBP Forum by visiting the MMA’s website. The attendee price is $175.00 USD. Members of the media may request press access for this event by contacting the MMA via email at mma@globalresultspr.com.