Econet last week launched EcoChat in South Africa after engaging with Pattern Matched as its technical partner.
EcoChat is part of Econet’s Call Home Package. The service will allow Econet subscribers living or working in South Africa to chat with friends and family at an affordable cost using their phones.
In South Africa, EcoChat will be called Econet Call Home Package.
This is a roaming service and enables Econet subscribers to get in touch with friends and family at affordable prices instead of them acquiring new SIM Cards as they cross the borders.
The service is found on Econetzone.mobi and users have to sign up, receive SMS confirmation of the service then ask their friends and family to join. The service will enable roaming Zimbabwe Econet subscribers in South Africa to get in touch with their loved ones back home.
According to TechZim, EcoChat is a WAP-based chat system for Econet Zimbabwe, Lesotho and CallHome South Africa subscribers.
The WAP- enabled application can be accessed by feature phone browsers. According to the Zimbabwean, EcoChat has been received well by subscribers.
Sue Kennedy from Econet’s Sales and Marketing team told the Zimbabwean that the initial feedback has been extremely positive with many customers now being able to get in touch with their loved ones back home on a daily basis.
Econet has more than 6 million subscribers in Zimbabwe and is the largest mobile operator. It is estimated that there are between 2 and 3 million Zimbabweans in South Africa most of whom keep contact with their families back home. The Econet service will be available for Econet subscribers in South Africa and Lesotho.
Other apps using feature phones include MXit, eBuddy, NimBuzz and Econet’s eTXT.
Services such as the Free Touch Messages, Free Home Country Headline News and Low International Call Rates are also used by roaming subscribers at the same cost while at home.
