Mobile telephony Setting Online Communities

Mobile phone users in emerging markets are creating online communities that are similar to those built on the Internet. Users can play virtual games, chat, blogs, and even conduct business operations in these communities, says Finnish 3G strategist Tomi Ahonen.

Ahonen says while it is estimated that 10% of Americans are traditional bloggers, more than 30% of Koreans are already mobile blogger. Mobile content is growing to be used as a way to personalize your phone, to a stage where users communicate and share share information to improve their lives, says Davin Mole, CEO of Exactmobile, a South African Mobile content companies.

Mole says his company, which previously was seen as a provider of mobile content, is increasing its services to provide digital communities where people are mobile-blog, advertise their services or even meet potential partners.

SA ready for digital mobile community

While most of South Africa telecommunications providers agree that the market is ready for the participation of more online, the PC penetration levels are extremely low.

This provides a opportunitity for mobile phones, which have a high level of penetration to provide the type of PC connectivity would have had. Consumers' willingness SA to form digital communities through mobile phones ready is best demonstrated by the popularity of Mixit, phone software application that allows users Mixit to communicate with other users on their mobile phones or PCs.

Less than two years later launched MXit, had nearly three million subscribers, with numbers growing even faster. The most users are between 16-34 and fairly well-off homes.
Over 70% of South Africans own cell phones, providers and see the potential to penetrate the market even more. MTN, which also has operations in other African countries and the Middle East, says he expects up to 150% penetration levels.

The strong adoption is largely made possible by the fact that companies are willing to provide free phones cost / ultra low-consumers in exchange for a commitment of time of transmission of long-term usage. However, the high cost of telephone calls made real use of SMS messaging and multimedia-rich very popular alternative for consumers. As a result, South Africa mobile phone users have become very innovative with their phones, and welcome new mode that allows them to stay in touch without spending more money. Anohen says that mobile phones can match what the Internet can do, and overcome it.

"The advantage that the mobile Internet is that it is personal, and always has a payment arrangement, he says. It also always maintained, with 60% of users take their mobile phones to bed," he says. The continuous, personal connectivity allows businesses to deliver targeted messages that the user can immediately respond, he says .......