Just like SMS is a huge success in the Philippines, IM is also proving popular for online consumers, with that popularity finding its way back to the mobile world, with Chikka for Mobile Chat (The leading IM community in the Philippines) offering several mobile features and solutions. Tjat, as part of this initiative is offering Chikka as part of its suite of solutions, recording users from the Philippines and also from Filipino expats worldwide, helping to bring families and friends together.

“In Manila alone, 50 percent of people online are using some kind of an instant messenger — higher than many of their counterparts in other Asian capitals,” said Chito Bustamante, chief executive officer of Chikka.com, quoting a Synovate PAX Survey.

“While greater access to the Internet also means greater access to IM, we believe the popularity of IM is natural, for the same reasons we embraced text messaging,” Bustamante said.

Chikka.com launched its own version of an instant messenger that integrated free text messaging capabilities and easy mobile replies. It also allowed mobile users to log on to the IM using their phone numbers, with Chikka for Mobile Chat the natural evolution of the web service.

Internet penetration in the Philippines has increased from a measly two percent in 2001 to over 20 percent by some estimates today, or over 20 million Filipinos who have online access. This continues to grow with cheaper and more accessible broadband and wireless broadband.

“The use of instant messaging is certainly growing along with increased Internet penetration. But even when Internet access was scarce among Filipinos circa 2001, Chikka was already enabling millions of mobile users to become part of an IM community, all via SMS. We sought precisely to unite the two worlds,” Bustamante said. Tjat, with its support of Chikka for Mobile Chat, is helping this trend of enabling one offering for mobile and broadband.