According to information gathered from our sources, Telecel Zimbabwe is set to launch Video Calling Services for its subscribers today. This will be the first time any local network operator has offered the service despite the fact that it has been available in other markets for several years.
Video calling allows you to have a face to face conversation by making use of the phone’s camera and it’s for subscribers with devices with the video call feature. The service requires 3G connectivity but is not reliant on an active data connection. The service will be provisioned for all pre-paid customers.
At a cost of 30 cents per minute with a 15 second billing pulse the Video call service will be for Telecel to Telecel calls only. The service is said to ride on a stable and reliable connection and if a video call fails the subscriber will be given the option to make a voice call.
While this service will bring Telecel and Zimbabwe up to date with the rest of the world in terms of basic 3G services. It does look it’s a bit of a late entry in a world where VoIP services offer the same face to face functionality. The redeeming aspect though is the ability to reach out to other users who might not have data services on a 3G enabled, video phone compatible device.
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Ever since Econet launched 3G video calls have been available on Econet. They charge based on megabytes. So no Telecel was not first, Telecel was just first in announcing it! @LSM
poor marketing by Econet then, to us the we-did-not-know-that-it-was-available-on-Econet Telecel is the first!
lol this is true.
not much economic sense in this feature because it chews up a lot of radio resources….
I’m confused. Been doing that on Econet for a while now. On a samsung dumbphone too with a front camera (5130). What exactly is new?
This was my point exactly. My nokia E63 does the same thing. The only issue I had with it was the billing is erractic to say the least. However works if you want to call vodacom s.a. or at least it used to… hint hint.
Someone can correct me if I’m wrong but I think it’s the fact that it’s not reliant on your purchased data, which would probably cost more. Any capable phone with data connect on any network has otherwise always been able to do this
The Econet service didnt/doesnt rely on data either (no skype or viber on that dumb phone of mine!). It chewed up regular airtime. A lot of airtime.
Sorry about the multiple images, not sure how that happened.
Normal airtime will automatically be converted to data usage, same as it does sms if you don’t use sms bundles. In this case that’s why you need to have 3g capability turned on. If you had $0 voice credit but had data bundles available it should still work. Is this not so?
Which would also mean you’ve been spending more on this than you had to.
Sorry I might be off topic. I just have one question. Is it legal here in Zimbabwe to develop an Face to Face Video calling app. You will not charge any money but users will be charged on their data bundles. Im working on a project like Telegram and im thinking of integrating the video feature. Please dont need to be caught on the other side of the law? Thanks enjoy the rest of your day.
We have been having it
This has been available since 3G launch in 2010 on econet. It is actually part of the 3G network standard.
Can anyone on net one comment if they can make video calls?
This is the most puerile marketing ploy ever employed by a weakling. Video calls have been available since the advent of data in Zim. Yes, in other countries, video calls have been available before 3G but it’s like gloating over MMS now (like what Econet did). Who still wants that especially at 30c when people have access to even cheaper 3G/Wifi? Android has preinstalled Hangouts that perform well in video calling, iOS has FaceTime! A huge number of apps are available for that. Their product is already overtaken by events!
But can you video call to someone with a feature phone like the one pictured above and suppose you have Facetime from iPhone ???
who cares?, we just want unlimited data plans at affordable prices and better internet connectivity, thats all
Econet was first not Telecel. Don’t you know that TechZim is paid by Telecel….
this is poor reporting from mr Nigel, been video calling on Econet for a while now…your title should have been “Is it a first from Telecel?”, not to be sure of things you do not know…the problem with video calling as you have mentioned it’s a bit late for a telco to make any meaningful revenue from such a service, unless maybe if it’s a strategic value added service….would have been a hit maybe some 6 -7 years ago….the same with mms, that is probably the reason why Econet is not making any noise about it..