Dear all I had a very interesting conversation with my mum yesterday, she wanted to know how she can purchase the whatsapp service since her free trial expires in two weeks time. She says from her handset there are 2 options google wallet and paypal. Of course she has no idea what both are to start with. I don't know how many of you are using this app. But in my village its becoming a popular application with most people having changed handsets to ensure they have whatsapp enabled ones. The reason being its cheaper to send messages using whatsapp. Actually the other day I heard the radio DJ asking people to whatsapp their opinions too! As of yesterday most profile status changed to 'error: user unavailable'. This has caused so much panic in the whatsapp community and I am sure if you are on whatsapp you have by now received this chain email asking you to send to 18 users to prove you are an active user. Based on those two incidents, I am wondering is there a defined model of payment for this service taking into account that most users do not have paypal, Google wallet or even a credit card. Most of us have been buying data bundles so we can access this application( and I am sure contributing a lot to the internet usage statistics). Now with these expiration looming has anyone thought of assisting those who may have the USD$2 to purchase the service. -- Cecilia Matanga Programme Officer Africa i-Parliaments Action Plan UNDESA Nairobi - Kenya Mobile : +254-718568154 Telephone : +254-20-374 9892/3 Fax : +254-20-374 9894