Twitter to be available on mobiles without internet, says Singapore-based developer


Twitter to be available on mobiles without internet, says Singapore-based developer
New Delhi: Singapore-based mobile solutions provider U2opia Mobile has said that almost 70 crore mobile users in India and around 80 per cent in the emerging markets, who do not have a mobile data connection, would soon be able to access social networking site Twitter using an application developed by it.

Facebook and Google Talk are using the application, which will also be available for Twitter in January-March next year, U2opia Mobile chief executive Sumesh Menon told PTI.

"Mobile users who do not have 2G, 3G, GPRS, etc on their handsets will have to dial a standard code through which they be able to access Twitter feed," he said.

Fonetwish, is a USSD-based solution, which works on any mobile phone without an internet connection.

USSD technology is used by telecom operators to send alerts to their users. It can be used for pre-paid call-back service, location-based content services and menu-based information services.

U2opia Mobile's Fonetwish-based services are globally available to end users at very economical price points, making it an affordable means of accessing the internet, he said.

"We are already entrenched in 30 countries and over 45 of the world's biggest mobile carriers. U2opia is well-positioned to partner with Twitter to drive growth across Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East."

About 11 million users are already using Fonetwish to access Facebook and Google talk.

"Twitter enjoys a significant userbase in countries like Asia and we're keen about driving an even more significant imprint in the emerging markets," Mr Menon said.

Twitter on USSD will be a compelling proposition for mobile-first and low-data-penetrated markets like these and the firm is excited about the roll-out, he added.

Besides India, Mr Menon expects the service to drive up userbase in countries in emerging markets like Paraguay, Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nigeria, Ghana, etc.