Twitter Announces New Ethiopia-Inspired Service for Global Users
(Twitter To Launch Ethiopia-Like Service)
San Francisco, CA – Twitter revealed plans today for a new service modeled after its successful Ethiopia offering. This global service aims to give users affordable access via text messages. People everywhere can now tweet and get updates without needing expensive smartphones or constant internet connections. Twitter sees this as vital for places with poor internet.
The company confirmed the service mirrors the Ethiopia model closely. It uses simple SMS technology. This bypasses data networks entirely. Users send and receive tweets as regular text messages. Costs stay very low. Twitter believes this opens the platform to millions currently excluded.
Accessibility is the main goal. Twitter CEO stated, “Communication should be for everyone. This service breaks down barriers. It brings Twitter to people relying only on basic mobile phones.” The service works on any phone capable of sending texts. No special app download is needed.
Twitter developed the original Ethiopia service to address low internet penetration there. It proved highly successful. Many Ethiopians joined Twitter because of it. The company now wants that success worldwide. They identified many regions where similar challenges exist.
(Twitter To Launch Ethiopia-Like Service)
The global rollout starts next quarter. Twitter will partner with mobile carriers globally. Pricing details will follow soon. Users can expect minimal costs per message. The service supports major languages from the beginning. Twitter promises core Twitter features will remain available via SMS. This includes tweeting, getting notifications, and following accounts. The interface adapts for the text-only format. Twitter engineers spent months optimizing it. They focused on speed and reliability over slow networks. User feedback from Ethiopia guided many improvements. The company expects strong adoption in Africa, Asia, and Latin America first. Mobile carriers in these regions have already shown interest. Twitter sees this as key to its next growth phase. They aim to connect the next billion users.
