I know this is a late post but I feel may be some people have not yet upgraded their Whatsapp application. Kenyans are very cautious with their data bundle usage and will not update their apps unless it’s not working or mandatory. That’s not what I want to talk about. Whatsapp have introduced the calling feature which will make it possible to make a call within the application without incurring the normal call charges by the carrier. So the next time you connected to a Wi-Fi network go ahead and give it a trial. This feature uses cellular data that means the only cost you will incur is in terms of data usage.
For you to be able to receive the calls via whatsapp both users must be online or have whatsapp and data on in their phones. When the call is made it indicates whatsapp call somewhat different from the way you receive a normal call.
As we know the main telephony companies in Kenya have been trying to outdo each other in terms of competitive call rates. Airtel introduced Unliminet package recently which to me is not bad. Considering data bundles have become cheap Whatsapp calling feature is something worth checking out in Nairobi.
Both Safaricom and Airtel have the same price for making off net calls that is 4ksh per minute. If you do the math if you spoke for 10 minute that will cost you 40ksh which can buy 50MB worth of data or even more in Airtel.
Whatsapp calling feature consumes around 1mb for a 3min call. Well this is very interesting and lets just hope it’s going to challenge the main players to reduce the call rate to may be 3ksh. The only drawback which will not make it the mainstream option for calling is some folks still don’t have whatsapp like in upcountry. So you will still need to have your airtime ready if you can’t make a whatsapp call in Kenya.
The service is already in motion on most android phones and soon Windows, IOS and blackberry will receive the same. I updated my whatsapp on my iPhone and was able to make the call which means it can also work on IOS. I haven’t blogged for quite some time but am back to keep you posted on any development. Have a great week folks.
For you to be able to receive the calls via whatsapp both users must be online or have whatsapp and data on in their phones. When the call is made it indicates whatsapp call somewhat different from the way you receive a normal call.
As we know the main telephony companies in Kenya have been trying to outdo each other in terms of competitive call rates. Airtel introduced Unliminet package recently which to me is not bad. Considering data bundles have become cheap Whatsapp calling feature is something worth checking out in Nairobi.
Both Safaricom and Airtel have the same price for making off net calls that is 4ksh per minute. If you do the math if you spoke for 10 minute that will cost you 40ksh which can buy 50MB worth of data or even more in Airtel.
Whatsapp calling feature consumes around 1mb for a 3min call. Well this is very interesting and lets just hope it’s going to challenge the main players to reduce the call rate to may be 3ksh. The only drawback which will not make it the mainstream option for calling is some folks still don’t have whatsapp like in upcountry. So you will still need to have your airtime ready if you can’t make a whatsapp call in Kenya.
The service is already in motion on most android phones and soon Windows, IOS and blackberry will receive the same. I updated my whatsapp on my iPhone and was able to make the call which means it can also work on IOS. I haven’t blogged for quite some time but am back to keep you posted on any development. Have a great week folks.