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Industry Insight
1 December 1999
MTN reveals "stealth" Internet strategy
BY
PHILLIP DE WET
[
1 December 1999
] -
MTN uses the words "stealth" and "under the radar" when describing its Internet strategy. It also uses "first to market", although in the sentence "first to market with a policy of continual improvement".
The company surprised many this week with its announcement of the "biggest Web site on the African continent". (See yesterday's related story.)
CompetitorVodacom has an advantage of more than a year, having kicked off its Yebo!net Internet service provider (ISP) business in October last year. Yebo!net has since been transformed into a joint venture with World Online , and Vodacom now also lays claim to a full portal site.
MTN says it will not reveal much about future plans and projects, preferring to remain mysterious for the time being.
The company has no plans to go into access provision. "It is a past assumption to translate the fixed world of Internet access to mobile," says Sam Michel, head of the new MTN e-business division. He thinks mobile Internet will rather provide the direction of future development of fixed Net access.
And entering the cutthroat ISP business is not part of the bigger picture. "We prefer to make love to our customers rather than making war on our opposition," Michel says.
Going community
He would rather go the community route, first building a community around a service and then mining the potential revenue from that base. He also has the trust of that community high on the priority list. "When you take your credit card and put in that big black hole I want you to have trust."
Building a community does not imply a portal site. "We want to give people a four second thrill," says Ari Kahn, whom MTN describes as its technology whiz kid. He prefers a Web site that draws regular visits because of the service offered there, as compared to all-encompassing portals that capture eyeballs for as long as possible.
However, the strategy is not to be a small local player. "We aim to be the preferred global and local provider of mobile connectivity services on the Internet," Michel says. MTN has alliances with 60 networks in 40 countries to provide SMS services. It is also in talks with ICQ, the provider of real-time chat, to develop an instant messaging service.
Messaging
This all boils down to mtnsms.com, the site MTN claims became the most visited in Africa in a mere three months, without a marketing budget of any kind. The site already generates income, MTN says, because it stimulates the market to make more phone calls and send more SMS messages.
The future for the e-business division lies in RIVR, a bridgeware system that allows users to pull content off the Internet with a normal cellular call. A call to a dedicated number is answered by a computer that retrieves a profile linked to the calling number. The computer runs a script, which compiles pre-set information and sends it to the user as an SMS message. "You can bill a person for such a service, because you know his phone number," Kahn says. A phone number linked to a contract will provide financial information.
Information can also be linked to the location of the dialling phone, as the cellular networks can identify the specific tower used to carry data, be it voice or SMS.
Kahn says applications for this service are already being developed by local partners with Wooltru, among others, involved. "We are working with Wooltru to provide some interesting services for its clients," he says.
Michel says consumer-to-consumer communication will be the main focus of all of MTN's activity, but that business-to-business and business-to-consumer will not be forgotten. "We are also looking at business-to-employee, which holds some great potential."
A consumer-to-consumer focus also makes marketing less essential. "The viral marketing model is not difficult to achieve," Kahn says.
Related stories:
MTN claims biggest Web site in Africa
Vodacom World Online declares war
Related industry news:
Surf's up on Yebo!net
The company surprised many this week with its announcement of the "biggest Web site on the African continent". (See yesterday's related story.)
Competitor
MTN says it will not reveal much about future plans and projects, preferring to remain mysterious for the time being.
The company has no plans to go into access provision. "It is a past assumption to translate the fixed world of Internet access to mobile," says Sam Michel, head of the new MTN e-business division. He thinks mobile Internet will rather provide the direction of future development of fixed Net access.
And entering the cutthroat ISP business is not part of the bigger picture. "We prefer to make love to our customers rather than making war on our opposition," Michel says.
Going community
He would rather go the community route, first building a community around a service and then mining the potential revenue from that base. He also has the trust of that community high on the priority list. "When you take your credit card and put in that big black hole I want you to have trust."
Building a community does not imply a portal site. "We want to give people a four second thrill," says Ari Kahn, whom MTN describes as its technology whiz kid. He prefers a Web site that draws regular visits because of the service offered there, as compared to all-encompassing portals that capture eyeballs for as long as possible.
However, the strategy is not to be a small local player. "We aim to be the preferred global and local provider of mobile connectivity services on the Internet," Michel says. MTN has alliances with 60 networks in 40 countries to provide SMS services. It is also in talks with ICQ, the provider of real-time chat, to develop an instant messaging service.
Messaging
This all boils down to mtnsms.com, the site MTN claims became the most visited in Africa in a mere three months, without a marketing budget of any kind. The site already generates income, MTN says, because it stimulates the market to make more phone calls and send more SMS messages.
The future for the e-business division lies in RIVR, a bridgeware system that allows users to pull content off the Internet with a normal cellular call. A call to a dedicated number is answered by a computer that retrieves a profile linked to the calling number. The computer runs a script, which compiles pre-set information and sends it to the user as an SMS message. "You can bill a person for such a service, because you know his phone number," Kahn says. A phone number linked to a contract will provide financial information.
Information can also be linked to the location of the dialling phone, as the cellular networks can identify the specific tower used to carry data, be it voice or SMS.
Kahn says applications for this service are already being developed by local partners with Wooltru, among others, involved. "We are working with Wooltru to provide some interesting services for its clients," he says.
Michel says consumer-to-consumer communication will be the main focus of all of MTN's activity, but that business-to-business and business-to-consumer will not be forgotten. "We are also looking at business-to-employee, which holds some great potential."
A consumer-to-consumer focus also makes marketing less essential. "The viral marketing model is not difficult to achieve," Kahn says.
Related stories:
MTN claims biggest Web site in Africa
Vodacom World Online declares war
Related industry news:
Surf's up on Yebo!net
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