Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL) last week unveiled yet another new product on the other range of services it offers. UTL’s Facebook and Twitter SMS service is now accessible to all UTL subscribers at no cost.
Addressing the media at the launch of the two social networks, Testai Menghastab the chief technician at the UTL said, “the two social networking media will enable Uganda Telecom's subscribers to update and be updated regarding their Facebook and Twitter accounts by SMS, thereby expanding the use and impact of the two social networking tools in Uganda”.
Mark Kaheru the UTL public relations manager said the Facebook and Twitter SMS service will bring immense excitement and delight to their customers especially those that access the internet only at their working places”. The service is applicable to all types of mobile handset and is free to access. Kaheru said UTL has enough bandwidth to handle the SMS traffic flow.
To access the social networks one has to send ‘fbme’ to 2299 for Facebook and ‘tweetme’ to 2299 for the twitter and will receive instructions to follow to access the networks.
I think this service is an incredible example of the technological innovations that can come from companies tailoring their services to local needs. With mobile technology being so cheap and becoming increasingly pervasive across Africa, it was only a matter of time until the phone and the Internet would begin their merger. In this case it is the cost barrier that has been surpassed, opening the power of the Internet to a much larger audience.
Most important for us bloggers, is that the technology has exciting implications for the broadening of citizen journalism. The lowering of the cost barrier eliminates the biggest obstacle for Ugandans to get news onto the Internet. This is a very exciting development, kudos to UTL for being the first to provide it.
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