Majority of 130mln mobile users depend on ‘missed call’

LAHORE: Not all the 130 million mobile phone subscribers in Pakistan make calls to connect with the other person; for a large number of subscribers, mobile phones are a tool to get a return calls from their superiors.

A missed call is in fact the most important communication tool between the rich and the poor. It does not deprive the mobile operator of revenue. It is because a return call is usually made by the person who received the missed call. A vast majority of mobile phone users are the poor, earning less than Rs7,000 and they cannot afford to make mobile calls.

These calls cost nothing to the dialler. Drivers and maids call their employers and disconnect. The employer calls back, thus effectively transferring charges. Most of the low earning mobile subscribers are on prepaid plans in Pakistan. Unlike the post paid subscribers they have limited talk-time. They do not have smartphones or WiFi facility as well through which they could communicate by using apps like Whatsapp or Viber. Most of them use feature phones, and for them placing a missed call is the only way to communicate.

This is primarily an emerging markets phenomenon because incoming calls and inbound SMS are free. Users spend less time on the internet as it’s expensive, and penetration of mobile internet has historically been on the low side.

Corporate sector in Pakistan has started encouraging its consumers to place missed calls, so their representatives can call back. The call centres operated from remote areas are still in vogue where a caller can place a toll free call. However, the ordeal of finally connecting with the concerned department remains a problem, as it might take 10-20 minutes to finally get the right person on line. During this period the caller is forced to listen to the advertisement of the corporate, and though it is free of cost, the delay is annoying.

Through the missed called medium, one does not have to wait on the line. The company or the concerned, by using outbound dialling lines, will make a return call as and when the capacity for calling back is available.

In Pakistan this service has provided impetus to an infant food brand of a large multinational company. All queries regarding the use and efficacy of the product are explained in detail to the concerned mothers. It gives a tremendous boost to that particular product.

The wide use of missed calls in developing countries can be attributed to a multitude of factors, including: there is no cost associated with making a missed call; it’s easy and fast; it’s the simplest call to action; it’s universally understood and accepted; there is no app to install, no account to create; and, above all, it is a human-powered ecosystem that’s already in place.

There is a downside to the missed call as the data of the caller is recorded and saved in the system. This way a company may use that data for numerous other promotional advertisements of its products. It may become bothersome for the consumer after a while. For instance mother would be annoyed getting promotional calls on the basis of that data four years later for infant food when her child is a toddler.

There are some missed calls which are not answered back. The new generation has devised its own code system to communicate with each other without talking. One beep means asking a question whether he or she is coming to the party. If the call back is one beep, it means yes, and two mean no.

There is nothing that the telecom providers could do to monetise this coded communication. They tend to generally ignore it, because the return calls after the missed one give them higher revenues.