Orange has today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kenyatta University that will see the latter benefit from the provision of WI-FI hot spots as well as the launch of a new tariff with preferential calling rates on Orange Mobile, to staff and students within the University.

The understanding will see to the provision of the WI-FI hot spots at the University’s innovation hub that targets to support business savvy students with a knack for entrepreneurship.    
The University community will also benefit from the launch of preferential calling and sms rates on Orange Mobile, at a special tariff within their University campus and other designated locations around the campus. 
This tariff, Unizone, will also allow the user to make on-net calls at KSh 1 within the unizone and at KSh 2, without the designated locations. These rates translate to a 50% drop on normal calling rates from the network.

According to Orange Telkom Kenya CEO, Mickael Ghossein, Kenyatta University will be the first university to experience this ‘pay as you go’ offer that will first be on a trial run for 3 months till September, 2011.

“We have installed a hot spot for their business centre, allowing students and young entrepreneurs within the campus to access quality internet as they work on realising their business ambitions. It is in this same breath that we have also seen the need of providing these students with the freedom to communicate at reasonable costs,” he said.

This offer also brings with it glad tidings to social media lovers; a new way of accessing Facebook anytime, anywhere using a new mobile site Facebook zero.

“Orange is the first telecommunications provider in Kenya to launch Facebook zero and our customers will be able to access this for free,” said Ghossein.
Facebook zero has all of the key features of the conventional Facebook site but is optimised for speed. It is available on one’s Orange mobile phone with the ability to access one’s home page, notifications, wall posts and status updates at no charge.

“Facebook zero is designed to help eliminate two barriers: speed and cost. This is because there is pretty low usage of data as it is a text only site and Orange will not charge the user for data access on text only pages,” added Ghossein.

The launch of Unizone comes just weeks after research findings by Consumer Insight revealed that more than 50% of youth in East Africa have active sim cards and use billions of shillings monthly on airtime purchase.

“Students constitute what is now known as Generation Y and one of their main attributes is that they value communication. They rely on the internet for communication and will use social networks such as Facebook and Twitter extensively to keep in touch with friends. These young men and women also prefer sending text messages as opposed to calling. However, cost remains a hindrance to their ability to meet their communication needs effectively,” he said.

“Unizone will help reduce on their airtime spend and it will also live up to the Orange brand standards of bringing a fun and refreshing feel to communication, ” concluded Ghossein, adding that the offer should create a club effect among the youth in the selected zones.

The service does not require subscription and will apply automatically while within the zone and be automatically deactivated once outside the zone.  A Unizone area will be identified by the word UNI-ZONE displayed on one’s phone, as long as the cell’s info display function is enabled on the phone.

During the launch, Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor Olive Mugenda congratulated Orange for identifying a market need within the university and meeting it effectively.

She said, “Although we have opened internet labs for students around the campus, we do appreciate that they cannot access the labs on a 24-hour basis. Affordable internet on their phones makes it possible for them to keep in touch with friends and fellow students.”

She challenged other corporate organizations to take the cue from Orange and introduce new products and services that meet the students’ dynamic needs effectively.