Chikka eyes expansion in global markets

MANILA, Philippines - Chikka Philippines Inc., a wholly-owned unit of Smart Communications, will expand its markets in the US, Europe and Japan and strengthen its presence in countries with large concentration of Filipino workers.

Company founder Dennis Mendiola said the company is making the ability to communicate as easy and cheap as local texting or short messaging. “We will be as aggressive as the telecom firms in pricing,” he added.

Chikka is a wireless application service provider, better known for creating the world’s first instant messenger to fully integrate mobile features through text messaging or SMS. Its services are currently available to over 45 mobile carriers in 14 countries including the Philippines, US, UK, Italy, Spain, India, Japan, Indonesia and Hong Kong. The latest version of the Chikka Text Messenger will be unveiled on Aug. 25.

The company currently has over 68 million registered users via PC or mobile phones, of which 15 percent are foreigners and the rest, Filipinos here and abroad.

Mendiola said Filipinos abroad have higher disposable incomes and are more in need of ways to communicate with their families in the Philippines.

“We are expecting a 30-percent growth in revenues and volume of users in these markets in six months,” he said.

Chikka is currently pursuing a technology roadmap that will activate its services in any platform, operating system and mobile device.

Mendiola, also the company is chief information officer, revealed that Chikka is set to unveil its own application for iPhone, Blackberry and Android devices. “The idea is for Chikka users to be able to access it on numerous communications platform,” he said.

“Chikka is more relevant than ever. We observe for example that a lot of casual messaging previously exchanged via text has shifted to the social networks. Our latest version is being released, combining the cool convenience of sending an IM message when one is on-line with the personal warmth, immediacy even urgency of receiving a message as text, instantly read on phones,” Mendiola said.

Promoting even higher utility for the community, the new Chikka version features P1 replies during off-peak hours when a lot of global Filipinos are driving message traffic to friends and loved ones mobiles in the Philippines. Unlimited text packages are also now available all day.

It is also interoperable with Google Talk while Chikka is working on partnering with other instant messaging applications to make it easier for users to keep in touch.

“In 2010, there were over 16 million visits to the Chikka site from 215 countries during a one-month period. Even though there are a lot of technological advancements in the communications industry, Chikka still remains to be the preferred communications tool for global Pinoys,” Mendiola added.