RFE/RL

Radio Azadi in Afghanistan Goes Mobile

Posted by MelissaUlbricht on Jan 10, 2011

Tagged With:

Read More >>

Radio Azadi in Afghanistan Goes Mobile data sheet 3876 Views

RFE/RLIn Afghanistan, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is three months into an interactive SMS service that allows listeners to access content and participate in the program via mobile phone.

Through the interactive SMS service, Radio Azadi is now able to both send and receive SMS messages from subscribers. As a news organization, the main goal of RFE/RL is reaching an audience. “We want to make sure our content is available on whatever platform Afghans want to consume it on,” Julian Knapp of RFE/RL said. The service allows listeners to become texters, and people around the country have sent in messages to the radio station, to the tune of about 200 messages per day.

Basic Information
Website URL: 
http://www.rferl.org/section/A...
Organization involved in the project?: 
RFE/RL
Project goals: 

The goal of the project is to reach an audience and provide content and information on a mobile platform.

Brief description of the project: 

In Afghanistan, RFE/RL and Radio Azadi uses an interactive SMS service that allows listeners to access content and participate in the program via mobile phone.

Target audience: 

The target audience is Etisalat subscribers who sign up for the free service.

Detailed Information
Status: 
Ongoing
What worked well? : 

The project has seen good uptake, especially from subscribers in small villages or rural areas where people don’t have as much access to officials or media.

What did not work? What were the challenges?: 

Because it is a straightforward service that has been implemented by the mobile provider for other projects, there were no significant technical problems. Currently, only Etisalat subscribers can sign up for the service.