MTN Vow to Unseat WhatsApp with its Instant Messaging App

It is no longer news that MTN is building an Instant Messaging app that will unseat WhatsApp. A lot of users argued that the IM won’t last long but MTN said, this time it will be different.

I’m pretty sure that some of you are not aware that MTN once built an Instant Messaging app called NokNok in South Africa to take on the then-popular messaging application MXit.

MTN Instant messaging app

NokNok allowed subscribers to chat in real time, join chat rooms, create their own private chat rooms, and share pictures.

Despite its offering, NokNok failed to gain significant traction, and it was shut down 30th of June 2011.

MTN Instant Messaging App Unseating WhatsApp

MTN CEO said its new app would be different to previous services, as it was built by an in-house team. “Many IM services have failed at this, with the emergence of smartphones. We aim to become the number one messaging platform in our markets.”

The service will offer the unique feature of allowing users to chat with anyone on a mobile device, regardless of whether they have the application or not.

The IM service would form part of the company’s mobile money portfolio and function as the “WeChat of Africa”, enabling mobile payments for the unbanked and underbanked.

The rollout of the application will begin in African markets as a pilot and expand to South Africa in the future.

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16 thoughts on “MTN Vow to Unseat WhatsApp with its Instant Messaging App”

  1. The only solution to achieve dat is to give free data to anyone who downloaded it and registered . Then also make it to work without subscription for 6 months.

    Reply
  2. Oga Yomi, but can’t you modify your WP theme (comment functions) and get rid of this “Email*” and “Website” fields in the comments.. i find it annoying when i feel like sharing my thoughts on your posts and i remember i would have to fill them up, i just let it slide and don’t bother commenting(i hate typing somethings i deem unnecessary). but if there’s actually a way it is helping your blog, then fine. but at least if you can make it a non-mandatory field (for some lazy like me..lol) i would appreciate it. Thank you.

    Back to the issue.. Mtn is just busy proffering solutions to where no problem exists.. its so sad that at a time like this when telco giants (like them) are gravitating towards matching up with the latest 5G trend, MTN cannot even boast of a vast expanse of ordinary 3G coverage across the 36 states of the federation. i have a 4G phone and i can tell you that i have never seen 4G network on this phone despite spending a fortune to acquire this 4G sim.. it’s actually piteous that everything in this country is up.

    Reply
    • MR P. Looking towards that. Alternatively, you can just register with wordpress, with that you don’t need to fill in any website or email, Just comment and post without any need for email.

      Reply

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