i-Free has announced the launch of its Jamango service in Ukraine. Jamango is the first and only SMS service in the world that is functionally very close to Internet-based communication tools. To use the service, Ukrainian mobile phone owners have only to SMS “Go” to 4441.
Jamango is a serious innovative statement in the evolution of the mobile services market, consolidating the most sought-after mobile and Internet-based services under a single brand. The services include: dating, interactive games, chats, interest groups, tunes, horoscope, fortune telling, jokes, information services, photo galleries, personal newsreels, and others. When offered together as a package, these services become more exciting and valuable to users.
One cool thing about Jamango is its colorful interface: the map of a virtual tropical island, on which every object represents an interactive mobile service. The user selects services as he explores the island, populated by unusual virtual creatures eagerly interacting with each other and the user.
The events unfolding on the island involve the user in many great adventures that are then visualized as original comics and cartoons. Any Jamango user can become a virtual character, so don’t be surprised when you see yourself in a comic book or TV commercial. Jamango users automatically enter into different lotteries held from time to time among the more active users.
Launched in Russia last November, Jamango has won over 700,000 steady subscribers in five months. “We are positive that Jamango will be as successful in Ukraine as it is in Russia,” said Alexei Korobkov, i-Free Director for International Development. “Catering to the needs of millions, Jamango is a service based on SMS communication, which is vastly popular among mobile phone users. Jamango is destined to become the best-selling dating product on Ukraine’s mobile services market. We forecast that at least 5% of Ukrainian cell phone users will have subscribed to Jamango by the end of this year.”
The Jamango service, which currently operates exclusively on an SMS platform, will soon be augmented with a WAP version, and later on, also a J2ME version. As an alternative, Jamango can be accessed via the web portal www.jamango.com, which has an extended functionality range.
Jamango is available to UMC and Kievstar users in Ukraine. An SMS to 4441 costs $0.09, excluding tax.