If the promise of slashed-price SMSs from Mobi Wireless, a Cape Town-based mobile Java developer, is scaring local mobile network operators, there`s no need for sleepless nights yet.
For one, MD Gary Cousins admits the company targets cellphone owners who send overseas SMSs. In such cases, there is a clear benefit in using this tool, after Vodacom raised the cost of an international message to R1.75. Messages via MobiSMS, a mobile Java 2 application, will cost only around 45c.
However, in business hours, even local text messages will be cheaper through MobiSMS (local operators charge about 75c per message).
But of course, teens have long known about the pleasures of SMS for next to nothing with certain deals. Vodacom`s tariff schedule in particular reads like a bouquet for cellphone obsessives. In addition, after-hours "texting" through any operator costs less than even the Mobi Wireless offering, at 25c, and corporate users with bulk SMS deals can get away with less too.
MTN throws another spanner into the works. One can buy a 500 SMS package for R86 per month (17.2c/SMS), and once those have been exhausted, SMSs are a straight 17c a pop.
Satisfied MobiSMS user Jaco Kamffer says MTN users are well looked after, but should users experience problems with their service provider, MobiSMS is a user-friendly, well-supported alternative.
Should one still choose MobiSMS, operators will make money out of it anyway. The service uses the Internet to full advantage to send the message via least-cost routes. This may or may not entail using one of the incumbent operators (it need not, says Cousins), and if it does, the operator will earn its standard bulk rate of 20c per SMS. On international messages, local operators are completely bypassed.
Also, on each MobiSMS, the local operators earn a 1c income on GPRS traffic so generated. And, with a bit of luck, with every SMS received locally, chances are there will be a response SMS, in which case the operator will earn its money too.
Vodacom`s Ivan Booth says the company is happy with developments since it will make its money from SMSs sent to Vodacom subscribers. MTN, which doesn`t differentiate between local and international costs, can hardly feel threatened.
Another thing that makes MobiSMS a distant spectre locally is the fact that GPRS has not taken off to any extent. Too many times does one hear stories of perfectly technically adept people giving up or simply displaying breathtaking ennui when asked about their GPRS experience. "It`s too damn hard and cumbersome," some say. "It`s a phone," others say. "I use it to phone."
Naturally, things might change. GPRS is a good thing (specifically in terms of cost advantages, compared with WAP, which now operates mostly in the background, but still has a purpose, says Cousins). It is expected to take off to some degree this year.
Are you still up for it? Then follow these steps:
1. GPRS must be enabled with your service provider (Cell C doesn`t have it, though).
2. GPRS setting and WAP gateway settings must be correctly set up. This is usually provided by a smart SMS from the operator, such as from www.vodacom4me.co.za.
3. Type http://mobiwireless.com/mobiSMS.jad within the browser of the phone (it is case-sensitive).
4. This will cause the phone to connect via WAP and return dome text to the WAP browser with the details of mobiSMS.
5. The phone then gives an option to download the actual mobiSMS midlet (called a jar).
See here for detailed instructions.
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