Operators Look to Make Money from "Beeping"

"Beeping" is a highly common tactic of saving money by mobile phone users from emerging telecom markets. A recent research showed that this is frequently seen in Africa, to the despair of local operators that are trying to figure out ways of making this profitable.

Jonathan Donner, an India-based researcher for Microsoft, looked into the phenomenon in a research that was conducted in Africa. Almost 30 percent of all calls made here are just split-second flashes that never turn into an actual call. People use this for saying "call me", "I'm thinking of you", or "I've arrived". Actually paying for a conversation to express this information happens only rarely, as the free option is naturally more appealing.

This situation is frequent in developing countries, where owning a mobile phone is still considered by some people to be a luxury. The tendency of using "beeping" instead of placing calls usually fades away in time, as the market learns to appreciate the advantages of the new technology and no longer considers it a spoil to use it to its full potential.

Africa is one of this type of developing countries, as it has boosted from 25 million handset users to almost 200 million in only the past five years. Current mobile phone users could afford buying a cellular, but supporting the network services cost that comes with it is often too much.

Zain, an African mobile phone operator, has introduced the "Call me back" service that other leading carriers provide. This should encourage users to place actual calls instead of beeping. In Senegal, for example, such a message costs USD 0.01 and can be used once the phone credit drops below USD 0.1. The need for such solution comes from the fact that operators lose money by providing free connections that never evolve into actual calls that can be taxed.