Vodacom has embarked on a month-long promotion of its data services by offering free Internet browsing over weekends for users who download the Opera Mini browser 4.1 or 5.0 versions to their cellphones.
The network operator says free data browsing over weekends is valid from midnight on Friday till midnight on Sunday, every weekend from 10 April to 2 May, and will apply once a customer downloads the Opera Mini browser enhanced by Vodafone, free of charge.
Opera Mini has made a name for itself in the mobile data space, due to its compression technology that makes efficient use of limited bandwidth, and thereby giving less technologically advanced handsets an Internet capability.
The browser's data compression reduces data usage while browsing by 70% to 90%, and provides faster page delivery, ultimately reducing browsing costs. It also claims to provide a better browsing experience compared to native phone browsers, enabling them to view bookmarks as icons and view multiple browsing windows in a carousel view.
Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software, says: "By significantly enhancing the customer's Internet experience, this initiative will help to kick-start local economies by encouraging entrepreneurs to create a range of locally-inspired business models and services. Opera is all about bringing the best Internet experience to anyone, anywhere."
Vodacom SA MD Shameel Joosub says: “SA is a market eager for more ways to get online. People are using their cellphones to visit Facebook, search on Google, and read Wikipedia. With Opera Mini 5.0 enhanced by Vodafone, we are making this experience as fast and easy as possible, as well as providing Vodacom customers with exclusive applications, only available through our partnership with Vodafone.”
Why so long?
However, the question that market observers and analysts ask is why has it taken so long for the network operators to see the benefits of a low-cost browser and then promote it.
St'ephanie Baghdassarian, a research director at international research firm Gartner, says: “I suppose it is still early to imply that carriers in emerging markets already need to grow data service revenue to balance voice revenue slowdown. There is still growth coming from new users, mainly using voice services.”
She says: “In markets where 3G is widely available, this takes place with USB dongles to connect laptops, as well as smartphone usage. However, enabling basic Internet browsing and access to applications through basic phones is a way to reach more users, more quickly.”
Arthur Goldstuck, MD of local research firm World Wide Worx, says the main reason operators tend to ignore applications like Opera Mini is that it does not have an obvious revenue model for them, or at least because it minimises potential revenue as a result of its efficiencies.
“It is quite common for operators to take a short-term view of data opportunities when they first begin to build data revenue. Eventually, it dawns on them that adding value to the data experience is one of the keys to customer satisfaction and enhances the likelihood of customers using more of their services. It's the old value versus volume debate, and operators do not have the strategic openness to grasp the opportunity that small third-party players can bring to the table,” Goldstuck says.
Baghdassarian also points out that Opera Mini has the specificity to enable a good browsing experience on 2G networks, therefore catering for the majority of lower-end devices in use and still sold in emerging markets.
“You could argue that it can bring users to the mobile Internet, skipping the fixed Internet, which is often not offering an extensive coverage in emerging countries. The deal signed between Vodafone and Opera will push the evolution across several emerging markets, including in Africa, but also India, where Vodafone has just reached 100 million subscribers. Turkey, Egypt and Tanzania are other primary markets for this initiative,” she says.
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