Religious Mobile Services – the new Acid?

by: Bena Roberts Friday, February 29th, 2008

I saw a quick snippet of an article on Telecom Paper that Vodafone Italy is offering religious SMS. About four years ago, TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile) launched daily Vatican quotes and prayers via SMS and I believe even had a WAP section for religious content.

In January, Superlocal.com amazed me by saying how successful the Kouran.mobi site is and that the company is making money from the nice mobile social religious network.

Then I did a quick online survey of my Facebook friends. I have 204 friends who are more business colleagues and people I have met at tradeshows etc. 90% of them had “nothing” or “atheist” or “religious is B.A.D” for their religious beliefs. A couple had Christian but I was one of the only ones that had Hindu.

Now, why is this important? Well, actually I am a terrible Hindu. I eat beef (yikes – don’t shoot me).

But once a year at Indian New Year I do the right thing and it strangely feels nice. (I don’t know why – but you have to believe in something).

So what is the point?

Well. Imagine an SMS religious service that donated back to the Church, Temple etc. Wouldn’t that work? I mean Italy is a devout Catholic country; but as a huge Italy fan I know that very few couples that don’t have sex before marriage. But people still say they are Catholic.

So, I am warming to the appeal of religious SMS. A religious fact?

A religious quote daily.

Even a religious voice message in times of need from the Vatican.

Yikes a daily name of one of the 3665 Hindu gods?

A religous song in times of need via voice search…
OMG hold me back with my thought!!

There is HUGE potential here.

I know that I would sign-up just for the sheer fact that I am terribly not brilliant at religious things and it’s like a (what is the word) … comfort?

You know you Sin; but buying religious SMS daily makes you less of a sinner?

Yikes – its Friday I must need a drink.