Smile Communications launches VoIP service in Uganda
The country serves as a launchpad for services outside South Africa
Ugandans who do not own or cannot afford to purchase a telephone handset now have a low-cost alternative.
The latest entrant in the crowded telecommunications market, Smile Communications, does not require users to buy a handset of their own. The Smile service, anchored on a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) WiMAX platform, works in such a way that users don't need to own a handset, but will in a way "own" a phone number, which they will use to call and receive messages.
A user's details are secured by a personal identification number (PIN) that can be used to access any Smile VoIP phone. In its home market of South Africa, Smile operates through agents, who provide mobile handsets in street kiosks, stalls and at pay phones.
Once customers log in to one of the phones with their PINs, they can make low-cost calls, access their contact lists and operate a voice mailbox with free message retrieval.
When calling off the Smile network, a customer will enter the system, purchase airtime if their credit has run out, and then place a call, send an SMS or leave a voice SMS in case the person they are calling is not available.
Smile calls are charged per second, with the fee deducted from users' prepaid airtime balance. Users who pay to buy their own VoIP phone for use in their offices or homes will either pay after a call or buy scratch cards. Smile will make money through sales of the VoIP handsets, as take-up is expected to be high because of the low call tariffs.
For a start, Smile's services and VoIP telephone sets are available within the capital, Kampala, with a rollout set to cover the major commercial centers in Uganda next year.
Smile is using Uganda as its launchpad before it sets up in other African markets outside its home market of South Africa.
The company has also acquired operational licenses in Tanzania, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Smile Communications is owned by a consortium of Saudi Arabian investors, Charnely, and South Africans Paul Savage and Sharron Vanessa Naidoo.