Pakistan - SMSs make electioneering more robust in country

Mobile phone operators in the country cashed the boom and enthusiasm of voters during elections 2013 campaign and generated revenues as SMS traffic went up to one billion text messages per day.

Thousands of candidates in the country made full use of the modern communication facilities and continuously tried to convince voters in their constituencies through text messages.

According to rough figures, one billion short messages (SMS) were exchanged on a daily basis in the country when the election was drawing nearer. 

“A huge rise in the usage of SMS was observed and not only the political parties used the SMS, but their supporters also exchanged a lot of SMS. Subscribers in Pakistan usually spend about a billion rupees a month on SMS,” said an official from a mobile service provider.

This increase in revenue is not only good for mobile companies but the medium used for campaigning is also very effective as there are 120 million mobile phone users in Pakistan.

Mobile phone companies also used Election 2013 as an opportunity and promoted different offers for their users. The subscribers were able to get all the information through text messages. 

Pakistan is one of the countries where per user SMS ratio is quite high. A general user generates 176 SMS per month in Pakistan. In China this number is 99 SMS per month, for India this figure is 53 per month, in USA this figure is 617 and in Brazil this figure is 22 SMS per month.

Source: By dailytimes.com.pk on 13th May 2013

Tanzania: Sh300 Million Daily SMS Craze

The short messaging service (SMS) craze has gripped mobile phone users in the country, whose nimble fingers are generating a whopping Sh300 million in revenue for the mobile phone companies every day.

With more people owning the increasingly affordable handsets, the traffic has surged to a record 5.1 million text messages daily, and this helped largely by the general belief among the subscribers that it's cheaper to text than to make a call.

Source: By allafrica.com on 19th June 2013

Pakistan cellcos bleed subs due to SIM rules

Pakistan's mobile operators have together lost around 2.7 million mobile subscribers in the first two month after the introduction of restrictions on the direct sale of SIMs through retail channels.

 

The latest statistics from telecom regulator PTA show that the nation's total mobile subscriber base fell to 120.8 million in January, from 123.6 million million in November.

 

Over the same period, cellular mobile teledensity dipped from 69.8% to 68%.

 

Each of Pakistan's five mobile operators were affected. Mobilink's mobile subscriber base was reduced from 36.6 million to 35.9 million over the two months. Telenor Pakistan's base fell to 30.2 million from 30.6 million, while Ufone's base declined from 24.3 million to 23.5 million.

 

In November, the Pakistani government announced new rules, introduced from December 1, prohibiting the direct sale of SIMs through retail channels. Operators were instead instructed to mail the SIMs to customers based on the address on their national identity card.

 

Operators were also ordered to block unverified SIMs and to limit the amount that can be registered to any one identity card to five.

 

Telecom operators have laid the bulk of the blame for the steep declines on the retail sales restrictions, the Express Tribune reported.

Source: By telecomasia.net (Dylan Bushell-Embling) on 27th March 2013