Ooredoo Myanmar launches maymay, a maternal health app for women on 3G networks

Ooredoo was one of two mobile operators granted a license by the government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to provide the first non-state-controlled mobile networks in the country. Ooredoo was also recently awarded a GSMA Connected Women Innovation Fund grant to develop maymay, a maternal health app aimed at using advanced mobile services to drive 3G uptake among women in Myanmar.

We are very excited to now announce that maymay was launched in September across Myanmar, one of the last untapped mobile markets.

In a country where 9 out of 10 people have never owned a mobile phone, Ooredoo’s strategy is to ‘leapfrog’ traditional mobile usage by launching a 3G-only network. However, the success of this strategy hinges on customers perceiving the value of a smartphone and mobile data to be above affordable feature phones. Challenges to this include the low understanding among customers, particularly women, of the benefits of smartphones and a lack of mobile content relevant to the Myanmar context.

Ooredoo saw an opportunity to develop a high profile smartphone app, tailored to Myanmar women, to raise awareness of the benefits of smartphones and thus drive female 3G subscribers.

maymay – Myanmar’s first maternal health smartphone app

Named maymay, meaning ‘mother’ in Myanmar language, the app was designed by Myanmar tech start-up Koe Koe to provide maternal health information to pregnant women. This health content is based on mobile health messaging content created by Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action, based in the United States translated to the Myanmar language and adapted to the local context by Population Services International (PSI). The service also aims to improve women’s access to health professionals by allowing users to access a database of information on the location and contact details of health workers and clinics.

The service has three main features:

Maternal health advice notifications: Users of the app receive 3 maternal health advice alerts per week, tailored to the stage of the user’s pregnancy. The user receives the first section of the advice message as a push notification and is then encouraged to click on the notification to open the app and read the rest of the message.

Doctor locator service:The app uses the user’s GPS location and a database of Myanmar health professionals to provide users with information on, and location of, their nearest health worker through Google Maps. Users can then select the pins to see information on the health worker’s location, specialty and contact details.

User profile:Users of the app are required to enter details of their last menstrual period or expected due date in order for the notifications to be timed with the stage of their pregnancy. Messages are also adapted for whether or not this is the user’s first pregnancy, and the user can switch notifications on and off at any time.

Appetite for the maymay app seems to be high – it already has over 22,000 followers on the Facebook page. By providing localised, quality content with clear value to women, it is hoped that “maymay” will serve to encourage women to see the benefits of a 3G subscription and will help to differentiate the network. In addition, by advertising the service in health clinics and hospitals, the app will also provide a new channel through which to reach potential subscribers.

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