Online competition to challenge mobile users

KUWAIT -- Wataniya Telecom and Nokia, one of the world's leading handset providers, jointly launched Harakat (movements) -- the first mobile services' competition in Kuwait. Wataniya, aka Kuwait's Red Carpet Co. and Nokia, presented the "exciting and fun mobile online challenge" at a press conference held in Marina Hotel yesterday. The competition aims to help customers to quickly learn more about Wataniya's value added mobile services and how to best use them on their Nokia devices. Star Academy celebrity Bashar Al-Shatti is the campaign face for Harakat. He also explained he will be one of the participants in the challenge.

What is Harakat? During a four-week period starting Nov 12 until Dec 5, Wataniya's customers will compete in completing daily and weekly tasks to pursue the prizes that include Wataniya Royal line subscriptions, Vertu Acsent mobile devices, a private film screening at Laila Gallery movie theatre and a dinner with Bashar Al-Shatti.

Speaking to the press at the event Harri Koponen, GM and CEO, Wataniya Telecom said, "Customer's satisfaction is Wataniya's prime goal and Harakat is designed to further reward our customers. The competition introduces a revolutionary way to deliver value added services to our customers. This is the first time a mobile services' competition on this level is done in Kuwait."

Enrico Leonardi, Account Director, Nokia's Networks, explained that the competition matches the culture of the market. "Kuwaiti people like to compete," he said.

In his words, the Harakat competition will help Wataniya offer fun experiences to its customers. "The participants will be entertained by the Harakat tasks that are based on mobile services, such as video, games and music. Nokia is pleased to support Wataniya in introducing new services to its customers. The competition is enabled by Nokia devices and Wataniya network supplied by Nokia," Leonardi said.

All Wataniya customers are eligible to participate in the competition, as long as they have a Wataniya SIM card and a Nokia device that supports mobile browsing. However, from Wataniya explained that other phone users could also join. Joining the competition is no tedious and time-consuming task.

There are three ways to register to Harakat. You can either send SMS to 1771 and you will receive a web URL in a SMS. The user have to save that on the mobile bookmark. The second option is to go to www.wataniyaharakat.com. Once you open the Harakat website just enter your mobile number into the text field and submit to register. An SMS is sent to you with the Harakat URL. Again you have to save it as a bookmark. Thirdly, through the Wataniya -- Harakat site, where you enter your phone number into the text field and submit for registration.

In Harakat, a task and time-based competition, different colours define the levels of difficulty. White stands for easy, green for average and red for difficult. Competitors have four weeks to complete the tasks. The more tasks they complete, the more points they accumulate and then the closer they will get to win great prizes.

Koponen explained, "We are giving recognition to our customers with this opportunity to try out different mobile services in an unprecedented and entertaining way. With Harakat, we are "spicing" up our customers' experience of mobile applications and services."