Twitter is working to make its social network service available to users who don't have Internet.
The company is closing a deal with a Singapore-based startup so its 140-character messaging can be used in emerging markets even when people don't have smartphones, Reuters reported.
U2opia Mobile, which also works with Facebook, should start the new Twitter service in spring 2014.
To see the popular trending topics on Twitter, a network that partly relies on hashtags to connect its users, people without Internet will dial a simple code, according to Chief Executive and co-founder Sumesh Menon.
The startup uses a telecom protocol named USSD, or Unstructured Supplementary Service Data. While the data service doesn't allow users to view pictures, videos or other graphics, Twitter's reliance on words makes it a natural fit.
"USSD as a vehicle for Twitter is almost hand in glove because Twitter has by design a character limit, it's a very text-driven social network," Menon explained.
Eight of 10 people in Twitter's emerging markets aren't able to access Internet on their phones.
The U2opia service is available in 30 countries and localizes the user's Twitter feed.
"So somebody in Paraguay would definitely get content that would be very very localized to that market vis a vis somebody sitting in Mumbai or Bangalore," he said.
The startup's biggest markets are Africa and South America, and it works with telecom carriers like Telenor, Vodafone and Bharti Airtel Ltd.
"For a lot of end users in the emerging markets, it's going to be their first Twitter experience," Menon said.
Twitter has around 230 million users and recently held a successful initial public offering valuing the company at an estimated $25 billion, according to Reuters.
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