MTN started charging users of its wireless Internet gateway (WIG) system on Friday, after more than a year as a free service.
Users will now pay standard SMS charges of up to 75c per outgoing WIG request, MTN says.
WIG is a data service that uses SMS as a data carrier, with requests sent from the handset and data returned to it via the SMS system. However, unlike a normal SMS, the data is interpreted directly by the handset and is navigated through a menu system contained on a 32K SIM card. It requires a phone capable of using the SIM application toolkit.
"Customers will be charged standard SMS rates ... for all requests sent to the WIG platform." For example, a bank balance request will equal the cost of one SMS while there will be no charge for the response containing the content requested, says MTN.
MTN users were informed of the new charges via SMS on Friday.
The company first launched WIG as a banking service for Absa in August 2000. At the time, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), which requires a dedicated data phone call, had already started to lose favour and Absa considered WIG a superior alternative. First National and Standard Bank also have WIG banking services available through MTN.
Other services available via WIG include limited news and movie listing information from the MTN ICE portal. MTN says other "innovative services" are being developed and will be launched shortly.
News of the new pricing system comes shortly after MTN announced that it would charge for the use of GPRS or general packet radio system data services from October. GPRS use has been free during a trial phase.
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