With fanfare and celebration, Celtel over the weekend launched its newest product: the Multimedia Messaging System (MMS). The launch took place at the Paddy’s night club and restaurant.
“This will make mobile use more interesting and beneficial”, said June Rose, one of Celtel’s product promoters.
One can now send multimedia messages to others, if they have compatible phones, they can view them instantly.
This was demonstrated when one of Celtel’s product promoters took well wishers at the launch through a simple step by step instruction of how this new product works.
He directed that a Celtel user should send an SMS with the word MMS to 141 then they would then receive their handset setting, then ‘OK’ to accept the setting should be pressed by the Celtel user and then another message would be sent for details on sending and receiving picture messages would be sent after the system would have configured your phone, there and then you will be home and dry.Amazingly, the Celtel promoter in no time had transferred a photo which he took of another friend in the hall
A Lebanese, who followed the instructions and started using his MMS facility, said “it is wonderful, you do not have to queue up in an office to get your phone configured, you only have to send a simple SMS message to the system and you could held your breath while your phone is configuring and ready for use.”
He declared, “Celtel is indeed the ‘bomba’.”
The Celtel management said the facility was free of charge for the time being so that their numerous customers would discover the new sensation. They also announced that it would be costing as little as 10 units per message with no additional airtime charges.
Celtel in effect is saying that its customers should share good times with family and friends. Continuing its bid of making life better the network has further reduced traffic which, according to the marketing director Evans Muhanga, was to satisfy their subscribers.
Evans Muhanga said, “research has shown that no one size fit all and it is on this background that we decided to have various traffic plans including Kombra, Flat and Moonlight”.
The flat tariff plan, he went on, was specifically for those who call frequently regardless of the time and this which cost 12 unit and after the subscriber had talked for three minutes, there would be a reduction of 1 unit per minute.
The Kombra tariff, the marketing director went on, was designed for family and friends “which is 17 units per minute”, and that they had the opportunity of calling one number daily for just one unit per minute.
The marketing director further stated that their services were affordable and cheap, and that they had the widest coverage so people had nothing to fear.
Mr Muhanga disclosed that, “God willing, we will soon launch the one mobile network. And this will allow people to move and talk freely with their Celtel sim and making calls like any local calls.”
The reason for all this, he said, was because there was strength in diversity so that was why they would make every thing possible to bring more products into the market for their subscribers.
By Betty Milton
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