Tigo Tanzania begins offering voice based Value Added Services

First Voice SMS service in the country elicits enthusiastic response

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Tuesday, January 17, 2011: Tigo Tanzania, a leading telecom operator in Tanzania and a subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular, on Tuesday announced the launch of Voice SMS, a unique non-obtrusive and easy-to-use service which is geared towards addressing the unique needs of new-age consumers. A first of its kind in the country, Tigo is using the pioneering Voice SMS technology from Kirusa which is the world’s leading vendor of mobile social media and value-added services.

Kirusa announced that its Open Multimodal Platform deployed at Tigo would enable the telecom carrier to offer portfolio of leading value added services to its entire subscribers base.

Voice SMS allows Tigo subscribers to send messages by voice, eliminating the need to type. It enables subscribers to communicate faster, with greater ease, and convey emotions as compared to limitations of text messaging which allows only limited display of characters. Use of Voice SMS by mobile subscribers is gaining global traction given its immense value and its benefits in surpassing the limitations of text messages.

Mr Suleiman Bushagama, Project Manager at Tigo Tanzania, said “We are happy at the initial response from our mobile users customers to the limited release of Kirusa’s Voice SMS service. As we expand the roll out of Kirusa Voice SMS service in coming days at very affordable tariffs, we are certain to generate an enthusiastic response. The robust platform from Kirusa has been crucial to the launch of Voice SMS at Tigo.”

Congratulating Tigo on the successful launch, Mr Taranjit Singh Batra, Vice President of Sales at Kirusa, said “Tigo has been a true partner in the success of our service. Their proactive support has made a tremendous difference and we expect to extend the partnership to deliver several more mobile services to Tigo customers.”

About Tigo Tanzania

Tigo is the first cellular network in Tanzania, started operations in 1994 and is Tanzania’s most affordable and innovative mobile phone operator. Tigo is part of Millicom International Cellular S.A (MIC) and provides affordable, widely accessible and readily available prepaid cellular telephony services to more than 30 million customers in 13 emerging markets in Africa and Latin America. The success of Tigo is based on the "Triple A" strategy which stands for Affordability, Accessibility and Availability. We create a world where mobile services are affordable, accessible and available everywhere and to all. This guarantees that our subscribers experience the best services at the most affordable rates throughout our 26 regions in both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar.

For more information visit: www.tigo.co.tz.

About Kirusa

Kirusa is one of the leading global developers of Mobile Social Media and Value Added Services enabling mobile subscribers to reach out to their family and friends. Kirusa’s solutions include the hugely successful Kirusa Voice SMS service, the world’s most advanced Voice SMS solution, used by over 30 carriers around the world. Kirusa has pioneered a suite of social media applications that facilitate mobile subscribers to interact through voice, including the Call-n-Tweet application which helps users update their Twitter status using voice. Kirusa provides an open platform with APIs to enable third parties to offer mobile applications services to mobile subscribers. Used by mobile subscribers millions of times daily, Kirusa solutions are built on its patented and patent pending technology and its highly reliable and scalable open multimodal platform. Kirusa has been recognized as one of top 100 technology companies by Silicon India, and one of top 25 emerging technology companies by Smart Techie magazine. Headquartered in New Jersey and led by an experienced team of wireless telecom executives and technologists, Kirusa has offices in three continents. ‘Kirusa Voice SMS,’ is a trademark of Kirusa, Inc.

For more information visit: www.kirusa.com.

Media Contacts

Tigo Tanzania
Alice Maro
PR-Tigo
Mobile +255 715 554501

Kirusa
Navneet Anand
GreyMatters Communications
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