Oct 06 2008
Take your Business Mobiles on Safari.
We are often told by the media, Ofcom and companies that international roaming charges will become cheaper. Will there be a real change in the future or is it more of the same old story?
At the moment, financial departments of both large and small companies are looking for ways to reduce the costs of a business mobile and international roaming.
An important issue when making calls with business mobile phones in other countries is the information that is provided to companies and individual consumers. What will be the cost to us? Is it possible to use our minutes abroad? What are other methods to reduce costs?
Let’s take a quick look at what is available to you in the marketplace.
Orange ‘business customers’ can make UK calls to 28 countries from their minute bundle, similar offers are available on o2 and T-mobile. Orange also offer ‘Business World Traveller’ which will give up to 50% off standard voice roaming rates and up to 25% off roaming data.
You can find a similar service provided by Vodafone called Passport. You can also take advantage of reduced call charges when you call from another country. Pay 75p connection charge per call when abroad, then talk at your usual UK rate. If you are interested in this service call 5555 with your Vodafone mobile.
o2 have what’s called ‘International Traveller Service’ which allows customers to call from Europe to the UK for £0.30p per minute. However, if you are calling from other parts of the world then the charges can vary from between £0.81p to £1.20 per minute.
T-mobile also have competitive roaming offers. T-mobile charge between £0.38p and £0.55p per minute to call the UK from Europe. Receiving calls with T-mobile have recently fallen meaning the cost is between £0.13p to £0.20p for Europe.
On selective tariffs and networks there are also options to add a bundle of international minutes for use in specified country.
If you are regularly visiting a country and using your business mobile phone to call the UK, one option is to buy a local SIM card. You would then have a local number for the country you are visiting. In some countries this will not be viable as you need to be a registered resident.
Other options include purchasing international PAYG/Prepaid SIM cards in the UK which offer roaming savings, in some cases up to a 50% to 60% reduction in call charges.
Competition is beginning to heat up in the International roaming market, consequently networks are fighting for our business. I am positive that roaming call prices around the world will keep getting more and more competitive. After all, the networks are in competition with one another which will drive prices down further.
Finally, whilst the networks are bombarded with bad press for over charging on roaming I believe they are reacting in a positive way that will benefit business mobile users in the UK.
