An indigenous mobile content aggregator, 70th Precinct Limited, is offering a new SMS news service that allows cell phone users to get up-to-date Voice of America news headlines and emergency messages through three of the country?s major mobile providers.
A statement on Monday said VOA had recently signed an agreement with 70th Precinct in Abuja.
The Director,? VOA, Mr. David Ensor, who signed the agreement, said, ?SMS is one of the most popular forms of mobile communication in Nigeria and VOA is one of the most popular international broadcasters in the country.
By putting our Hausa language news updates out as SMS messages on mobile phones, we give our audience the news they want on a platform they like.?
The Chief Executive Officer, 70th Precinct Limited, Mr. Osamede Umweni, who also signed the agreement for his company, said, ?The VOA service would be landmark one in the sense that it would be the first time a major news agency would deliver up to the minute news in Hausa language via the SMS format.
?The service would cater for over 21 million Hausa language listeners in Nigeria?
The SMS headline service, according to him, has been undergoing tests in Nigeria for the past month.
He said the VOA regional and international headlines were currently being? updated three times a day, seven days a week, and are available on MTN, Airtel, and Etisalat.
The Interactive Voice Response service, he explained, would also be inaugurated in the next few weeks.
?Here subscribers can listen to daily headline news on their mobile phone anywhere they are from a source that they can trust,? Umweni said.
The Senior Web Editor, Africa Division, VOA,? Mr. Stephen Ferri, said SMS was not only a popular way of communicating; it was one of the most reliable in an emergency.
?When other communications systems break down, SMS will probably still work.? We have seen this in other countries where our audience expanded sharply in a crisis, because SMS was the only way to get news,? he said.
In the same vein, the Director, Broadcasting Board of Governors? Office of Digital Design and Innovation, Rob Bole, described mobile as ?one of the most important new ways for international broadcasters to reach audiences.?
Bole is exploring ways to expand the use of mobile to reach African audiences across the range of platforms, from simple feature phones to high-bandwidth Internet-capable devices.
In addition to mobile service, VOA broadcasts to Nigeria on radio, television and the Internet. Many affiliate stations carry VOA Hausa language programmes.
Research conducted for the BBG shows that one in three Hausa language speakers listen to VOA radio at least once a week.
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Source: http://www.punchng.com/business/technology/70th-precinct-unveils-sms-solution-for-voa-listeners/
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Source: http://biscayne-regency.blogspot.com/2013/03/70th-precinct-unveils-sms-solution-for.html
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