sms aggregator
Posted by KatrinVerclas on Jan 24, 2007
I am part of a research project for the Gates Foundation on the future of global online advocacy, where I have been adding data and commentary on mobile content. One of the ideas we have floated is a global SMS hub – a commercial aggregator for low cost global SMS campaigns.
Why is this needed?
SMS is a critical tool for e-advocacy in the global south. Given the high rates of mobile phone penetration in large parts of the world compared to Internet access, SMS allows a much wider reach than email. However, mass SMS campaigns are not feasible option for many NGOs in the global south because of cost – costs that pertain both to the NGO itself and to potential campaign participants who must pay to text. Sending an email message (or a thousand) entails no excess cost for an NGO above the cost of an internet connection (which admittedly, can be formidable in some parts of the world). However, if an NGO sends an SMS, it must pay per message (the global average cost is .10 US $), making mass texting thousands of messages prohibitively expensive. In addition, SMS is in some countries still relatively expensive for consumers, making it somewhat unlikely that they would send an SMS message on behalf of an advocacy campaign.
What would reduce the cost of SMS for social causes and allow for mass sms campaigns to become a reality for NGOs engaging their constituents?
What is needed is a global SMS hub for civil society organizations, and possibly even one with toll-free numbers for SMS that would not charge participants. With a toll-free SMS short code, the sender would not have to pay to send the SMS to a particular number or better yet short code. This would require short code requisition for many countries and agreements with all telephone operator in the country (or countries) in which the service is to be offered -- short, a global aggregator service with a twist, a Clickatell for Good.
How far off from being a reality is a global SMS hub for civil society?
The GSM Association recently completed trials of a hub-baed interoperability structure. From it’s press release:
