If You Love Someone, Text Them Free
Among text messaging innovations, the Philippines pioneered subsidized messaging, which lets a mobile subscriber prepay for the message of another. Years ago, Globe Telecom launched TxtBakMoLibreKo (I'll pay for your reply), while Smart Communications launched GifTxt.
Both TxtBak and GifTxt allowed texters to prepay for the reply, thereby "guaranteeing" that the respondent can reply. Subsidizing replies benefits both parties: the sender can subtly prod the recipient to respond, at the same time eliminating a common alibi--that the recipient had insufficient prepaid credit to reply; the respondent, in turn, benefits by by being able to reply, free of charge.
These services, while initially popular, have waned in usage, due largely to operators' lack of sustained marketing support. Still, these services are in active use.
For Globe's Txt Bak Mo, Libre Ko:
send <message> to 20+<recipient's mobile number>
Example: Are you up? to 209175551212
For Smart's GifTxt:
send <message> to 50+<recipient's mobile number>
Example: Are you up? to 509195551212
Free, free. Text them free.
You just love Sting don't ya?
Posted by: JavyO | February 15, 2008 at 06:23 PM