Zimbabwean mobile network provider Econet has started a free trial period that will allow users on its network to send Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), a first for Zimbabwean mobile phone users.
Multimedia Messaging Service allows users to send pictures and multimedia content to other users with a MMS-enabled cell phone. Although the service is free for now, there will be a cost involved once it gets officially rolled out. All MMS messages have to be less than 1MB, and a charge of 15 cents per message during peak periods will be levied from January 2012.
“A picture speaks a million times more loudly than words. And a picture never lies. This service will allow Zimbabweans to present picture evidence of what is happening in our country, like the violence that ZANU PF denies,” said Promise Mkwananzi, the Secretary General of the MDC-T Youth Assembly.
Mkwananzi also urged users to familiarise themselves with the service, and to use it as much as possible. “We really encourage people to familiarise themselves with this technology, and grab it with both hands and utilise it.”
In most countries, MMS is seen as an old technology, as internet-sharing of images and multimedia has become more main stream, with users having the ability to share content through BBM, Whatsapp and other services.
Charlie Fripp – Acting Online editor
