MTN has gained first-mover status in Cote d’Ivoire by launching the first mobile collect call service on Sicap Pay4Me solution. Simple to use and available for all MTN customers by dialling a short code before the correspondent’s number, the Sicap-designed service was rapidly embraced by a large number of MTN’s 4 million subscribers on launch last November. MTN is now running a nationwide media campaign, including a TV commercial which shows a child and her Mother phoning the Father, who automatically accepts the call charges. MTN has astutely chosen to market the service as a means of bringing families closer by enabling subscribers to bear the cost of calls from their loved ones. For the operator, the Sicap solution has additional advantages. Because Pay4Me works exclusively among MTN subscribers, friends and family members are likely to favour MTN over its competitors in order to benefit from the service. In terms of increased voice traffic, Pay4Me clearly stimulates calls which otherwise would not have happened. The vast majority of mobile phone users in Cote d’Ivoire are prepaid. Instead of friends beeping each other when out of credit, MTN customers can now choose to request a collect call. On a more technical level, because the solution works by alerting an intention to call using the USSD channel, it is very economical on network resources.
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