AppDate Yourself
I have in the past one year written 3 articles (Article 1, Article 2 & Article 3) arguing why Mobile Operators should have entered the App space a long time ago. This is essentially because Kenya has proved itself to be uniquely innovative in developing mobile applications/solutions that actually work and generate revenue.
So when Zain lowered its call rates to all Kenyan networks it opened the pandora box placing mobile applications and data at the center of competition in the Kenyan Mobile Space.
Join Andrea Bohnstedt and Nyagaka Ongeri in this very insightful dicussion about Mobile Application, Data and Revenue Generation.
I would only add that individuals and companies need to find a way to mesh Mobile Service (like SMS) and Web Applications to allow Content Creation that would ultimately create advertising space on the Kenyan Internet.
That is what we at Whive.com have done.
Have a look at our live applications which all are all partly SMS Based.
- Whive.com for Social Media and Content
- Whive.mobi for Micro Media and Mobilized Content
- facebook.whive.com our Facebook Integration
- iKatiba.com our Mobile App store.
Consensus has been that Safaricom has largely behaved like a big bully “stealing” ideas from Kenyan developers or behaving in a manner that is detrimental to the Kenyan Mobile ecosystem.
Whether the above claim is true or false momentum is clearly on Zain’s side with almost everyones attention including Developers shifting towards it.
It may be true that middle aged voice consumers may have in the past been the main revenue source but the shift towards data consumption by Kenya’s youth with drive profits in the future.
The Mobile Operator which convinces us to share revenue by giving them our Mobile Apps and sharing advertising revenues will win the war.
This is a HUGE opportunity for everyone especially if we let market forces run their own course…
