The Clickatell ZA Blog

With over 20 million South Africans (approximately 68% of our adult population) using cellphones, bulk SMS is a fantastic tool for any business or organisation to expand their reach.

Bulk SMS played an important role in the recent South African ‘Fly the Flag for Football’ mobile campaign.

The noises coming from the recent Mobile Money Summit in Barcelona bode well for the widespread adoption of mobile banking applications by financial institutions, particularly in poorer, less developed countries where formal banking infrastructure is limited.

The race is on for more and more innovative ways of using SMS messaging applications as more services are mobile-enabled.

Two years ago Vodafone launched South Africa’s first location-based social network – The Grid – and this year they have taken their mobile application to a whole new level.

With less than 350 days until kick-off in the first of the 64 matches to be played in the South African 2010 Soccer World Cup, the tension is rising as the availability of tickets decreases.

SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) Education in partnership with Mobidic and the Gauteng Economic Development Agency have launched an exciting SMS text messaging application project.

It seems that almost everyone has realised that the mobile phone is the most powerful tool to reach the consumer in the 21st century.

When comparing Internet penetration against mobile penetration in South Africa, you’ll find that while broadband Internet penetration is restricted to developed cities and towns only (about 25% of the populate), mobile penetration is roughly 80%.

In one of the most innovative adaptations of SMS text messaging to date, Mayor Helen Zille and the City of Cape Town have launched a SMS service allowing residents to text their complaints on water-related issues directly to the city’s call centre.