BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-The Venezuelan cell-phone operator Movilnet presented a new service that allows new clients to receive mobile-phone messages without actually owning their own cellular phones.
The “Virtual Cellular” service offers a message box to each new customer, allowing the user to check messages from a landline or cellular telephone through which they will start to accumulate airtime. Once a user reaches 600 minutes of use, Movilnet will deliver a free mobile phone automatically programmed with a telephone number to the customer.
“The current situation means that an important sector of the population has no access to a mobile-phone service, especially those on lower incomes,” said Enzo Pitari, vice president of commercial operations for Movilnet.
With Virtual Cellular, the company aspires to incorporate this segment of the population by delivering the actual terminal free once they have used 600 minutes of airtime through their message boxes. Movilnet’s objective is to increase its customer base by 100,000 new customers within the next five months.
Movilnet has invested US$2 million to start the service. The company presently has 2.65 million customers, who make up 41 percent of the cell-phone market in Venezuela.
