CAIRO: MobiNil has just announced the launch of a voice SMS service, known to the rest of the world as voice mail. With this launch, the telecom industry in Egypt is moving into new frontiers . or rather, into old ones that have never before been offered in Egypt. With this strategic offering, MobiNil, the first Egyptian mobile operator to offer this service, has already set the competitive ball in motion, rushing to offer new services before Etisalat, the winner of the third mobile license, has begun the recruitment process. The genius of this service is that it is very basic, requiring no breakthrough technology or groundbreaking system to allow its introduction to the market. In fact, voice messaging was invented in the early 1970s, although it wasn't widely adopted until the '80s. Before the creation of text messaging (which came after voice mail), people had a hard time reaching each other. As corporations grew and the need for business communication increased due to multiple time zones, individuals were unable to reach each other either because they were not at work, away from their desks, out to lunch, or already on the phone. The need to leave a message became imperative, and thus, voice mail was created. In Europe and the United States, for example, voice mail is a standard network feature on mobile phones. Astoundingly, this service is only now, on the brink of 2007, being launched in Egypt, where perhaps voice messaging is even more important than text messaging. Due to the bilingual nature of Egyptian society, writing text messages to an individual in a language in which the user is not proficient can be quite a difficult, if not impossible, task. Furthermore, the message can end up being misleading due to the terminology used. For example, for an individual who is less than proficient in English, the need to write a message in that language because the receiver only speaks English is daunting, and sometimes, confusing to the receiver. This is why MobiNil says it decided to launch the service in the first place. In an official statement released by the company, MobiNil announced that they have launched this service in order to alleviate and reduce the tricky situations that the average Egyptian consumer faces when wanting to communicate with another individual in a language both can understand completely. Through voice messaging, customers can express themselves effectively in the language they prefer, using their own voices and local dialect, to get the message across, so to speak. According to MobiNil, voice messages cost 50 piasters, as opposed to the 30 piasters individuals pay for text messages. In order to send a voice message, a person must press the star button on their mobiles, followed by the mobile number they want to send the voice message to. The individual will then hear a beep, after which they have 30 seconds to record a voice message, and then hang up. For individuals to check their voice messages, they must press '**0' in order to hear the message, which comes free of charge the first time round. To listen to previous voice messages, dial '**1'. The cost of listening to old voice message is the same per minute as a phone call. Voice messages can be sent to anyone with an Egyptian mobile number, even if they are not a MobiNil subscriber. In related MobiNil news, the company, along with its longstanding competitor Vodafone, has stated that it will announce its decision on whether to bid for a 3G license (which, rumor has it, is being sold for a sum far in excess of its value) in August. MobiNil has also stated that the company will release the financial results for the first half of 2006 on July 27, after trading on the CairoAlexandria Stock Exchange.
