Etisalat Nigeria has announced it is offering its subscribers free access to the cloud based bINu mobile application. In a release, it said the offer is valid until December 6, 2013.
“biNu is a cloud based mobile application that works on Java and Android phones to deliver a wide range of content while using a very small amount of data, providing a superior user experience on low-end phones, even with only a 2G (Edge and GPRS) data connection,” Etisalat stated.
The app which has its own social network, email and chat solutions also gives users access to Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Google search and free books.
In an exclusive chat with Jeremy George, biNu’s vice president for Africa, he said the decision to offer users free access to the app was reached in order to address the skepticism of users who are afraid of the app eroding their airtime. He added that the move was also made to get more data users in Nigeria to use the app.
He said: “It was based on the realization that people are nervous of having all their airtime eroded by data costs, and the need to get more people using data.”
He noted that while the company is consolidating on its areas that work well, it believes that the offer on Etisalat network would be successful if the campaign is well promoted.
“The success is dependent on how well they publicize this. If people don’t know about it, then it will make no difference. I am working with Etisalat to try and get the message out there,” he said.