October 8, 2007
How Safaricom gives voice to Africa
An interesting article from the FT, on flashing in Kenya, something related to cell phones and that has nothing to do with indecent exposure.
"To flash is to call a mobile and hang up before the call is answered, a cost-free way of letting the owner know you want to be called back. People do it because they are low on pre-paid credit, or because they think the other person has a better reason to pay for the conversation.
t is a habit borne of poverty in an African country where gross national income per capita is $530 a year and 46 per cent of its 36m people live on less than a dollar a day.
But flashing, which congests the network, bothers Mr Joseph so much that, for no charge, customers can now send a standardised text message that reads: “Please call me. Thank you.”
“It gets people off our network to allow other people to make calls that will mean revenue for us,” says the chief executive."
Related article: - Africa is in the grip of a mobile phone revolution
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