Verizon Wireless launches new global data plan (USA)
American mobile operator Verizon Wireless is launching a new, easy-to-understand Global Data Plan. Starting April 23, the new Verizon Wireless Global Data Plan offers U.S.-based customers 100 MB of data for $25 a month. For one low cost, customers can access email, browse the Web and update social networks while traveling outside the United States in 120 countries and destinations, including all of Europe, South America, the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada.
With the new Verizon Wireless Global Data Plan, customers can purchase 100 MB of data for $25 a month. Prior to traveling outside the United States, customers should visit the website to determine their coverage needs. To purchase a Global Data plan, customers are required to have a domestic data package and international eligibility, which requires minimum payment history.
Customers who require more than 100 MB of data while traveling will receive a notification via text message when an additional 100 MB of data for $25 has been automatically made available to them once they exceed their initial allotment. Customers traveling to countries not covered under the Global Data Plan, but within Verizon Wireless global coverage areas, will be charged at Pay Per Use rates of $0.02 per KB.
Whether traveling to London for the big games this summer or Oktoberfest in Munich this fall, Verizon Wireless customers with global calling and data services can make and change hotel reservations on the fly, call for and download directions to local attractions and restaurants, and stay in touch with family and friends back home by sharing pictures via email and social networks.
Verizon Wireless customers planning international getaways can take advantage of first-class tools and resources to help manage their wireless travel needs, putting their minds and budgets at ease before they go and once they arrive, such as, Verizon Wireless Trip Planner provides customers information they can use to plan their travels before they leave home, including details about global calling, country-specific coverage and device functionality.
To help travelers get their wireless bearings, Verizon Wireless greets travelers to most overseas destinations with a free welcome text message featuring helpful information for the country they are visiting, including dialing instructions for calling within and to phones outside the country; voice, text and data rates; as well as the ability to reach Verizon Wireless Global Technical Support.
Free Global Data Roaming Usage Alerts help travelers keep an eye on their wireless usage. Verizon Wireless customers automatically receive free alerts via text message or email when Global Data Roaming charges exceed certain thresholds.
Verizon Wireless operates a dedicated, toll-free global support number that will put customers in touch with one of the company’s U.S.-based support centers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Customers outside the United States can reach the Global Technical Support Team by dialing the appropriate exit code for the country they are in and then 908-559-4899 – a free call from their device. Customers may also reach Global Technical Support free of charge by using the Verizon Wireless Global Calling Card, provided with their global-ready device, if their device is not usable.
O2 launches On and On tariff plan (UK)
O2 announced On & On, a new tariff that lets customers use their phone more than ever before, while paying less than ever before. For just $41.5 a month for customers keeping their current phone or from $57.5 a month with a new phone, On & On offers unlimited minutes to mobiles and landlines in the UK and unlimited text messages to UK based numbers. Also included is a gigabyte (GB) of data to use however they like, including tethering and streaming, without having to worry about extra data charges once it’s been used.
For just $41.5 a month for customers keeping their current phone or from $57.5 a month with a new phone, On & On offers unlimited minutes to mobiles and landlines in the UK and unlimited text messages to UK based numbers. Also included is a gigabyte (GB) of data to use however they like, including tethering and streaming, without having to worry about extra data charges once it’s been used.
Sally Cowdry, Marketing & Consumer Director for O2 in the UK, said that O2 On & On gives customers the most value they’ve ever offered in a Pay Monthly tariff. Whether they’re choosing to stay with the operator or joining O2 for the first time, they’ll be able to talk and text as much as they like, while enjoying the internet on their mobile absolutely worry-free. And only O2 has the added value benefits of priority access to 4000 acts a year with Priority Tickets and everyday offers and discounts with Priority Moments.
To help make that new phone even more affordable, On & On is available for either $57.5, $65.5 or $73.5 per month. Each price point gives customers the same unlimited UK minutes, the same unlimited UK texts and the same 1GB of data. For instance, the iPhone 4S 16GB has an up-front cost of $95 on the $57.5 On & On tariff, $32 on the $65.5 tariff or free on the $73.5 per month tariff.
On & On customers will also get the same peace of mind as all O2 Pay Monthly customers with regular text updates on how much data they’re using and, if they use all the 1GB data, no extra data charges. On & On customers looking to use more data can double it to 2GB for an extra $8.
Once they’ve joined On & On, O2 customers can then choose to personalise their tariff with a range of Bolt Ons to truly make it theirs, including phone insurance, international calling discounts and picture messaging bundles. They’ll also get all the great benefits of being on O2 including expert Guru help and O2 Priority Tickets. They’ll also get access to a range of exclusive discounts with Priority Moments which could help save customers up to $112 from a range of high street stores.
Vodafone India introduces relocation service on its network (India)
Vodafone India, one of India’s leading telecommunications service providers, announced the launch of a unique service for all its post-paid customers across India. Since Vodafone is present in all states of India, any customer who wants to re-locate from one state to another state can continue to enjoy un-interrupted services from Vodafone.
Customers relocating to different parts of the nation often face trouble securing a local mobile phone connection. It is a big hassle to search for the right tariff plan, service provider, etc. in the new location. Moreover, customers who were enjoying special privileges like higher credit limits, billing details, etc. in their older location need to establish their credentials in their new location.
Keeping this inconvenience in mind, Vodafone has launched the new service to enable its post-paid customers a seamless relocation experience. The customer needs to apply for the same in his current location. The CRM (Customer Relationship Management) will alert the Vodafone team in the new location from where executives will contact the customer, ensure a convenient process of allocating them a new number, retaining their credit limit, changing the billing address and collecting identity proof documents.
Speaking about the new service, Sanjoy Mukerji, Chief Commercial Officer, Vodafone India, said that at Vodafone, they are committed to deliver the best-in-class services to reach out to their customers. This has been possible only because they are present in all the 23 telecom circles and they have a state-of-art CRM system. Through this service, they aim to provide their post-paid customers a hassle free relocation experience and uninterrupted services on Vodafone.
Beeline launches new ‘Super Zero’ plan (Tajikistan)
Mobile operator Beeline has launched a new tariff plan for all calls made within the network. As per the company the monthly fee for this tariff plan is $ 8 for subscribers to connect to and within the territory of Sogd, Badakhshan, and $ 10 for subscribers of other areas of the Republic of Tajikistan.
The plan offers users 1500 minutes of usage for calls made within the network along with 1500 SMS to be sent within the network, with a validity of 30 days. The plan also includes 100 MB of GPRS data. For users using this plan all incoming calls remain free while outgoing calls made to the Republic of Tajikistan are charged at $0.06 per minute.
Vodafone Ghana launches the ’138′ tariff plan (Ghana)
Vodafone Ghana has launched another tariff plan for users offering them much more affordable rates at specific times. According to reports, the ’138′ promotion launched by Vodafone offers users a discounted rate of US$ 0. 00615 per minute for on-net calls made between 9pm and 11pm and between 5am and 7am every day. Further, the scheme also offers users discounted rates of $ 0.01846 per minute for on-net calls made on weekends along with $0.04924 per minute for the rest of the week.
As per sources, Mr. Julius Owusu-Kyeremanten, Customer Value Manager, Vodafone Ghana has said that in order to activate the US$ 0.00615 per minute at night, a user would need to spend at least $ 0.30774 within the day, while to activate the $ 0.01846 per minute offer, the user would need to have spent at least $ 1.53872 during the week.
MTS offers free Facebook SMS alerts (Russia)
MTS has announced that it has launched a free Facebok SMS alert offer for subscribers.
An incoming SMS message includes the link to the mobile version of Facebook, and the subsequent internet traffic is charged according to the customer’s tariff plan.
A mobile revolution in rural India
The total mobile penetration may have reached 14 per cent of India’s population. However, industry experts assert 13 per cent of this is in urban centres and only one per cent in villages.
The opportunity is not lost on market players like Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Reliance Communications who have been present in this segment for a while.
Now Hutchison Telecom, Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices too have descended on the turf with big network expansion plans and innovative marketing strategies specially tailored for these regions.
“The B and C category census towns are raking in good business for us. Currently, almost 35 per cent of our business comes from these circles. However, the potential here is immense as only a per cent of the total population actually use mobile phones,” says a spokesperson for Tata Teleservices.
TTS, operating in 20 of the existing 23 mobile telephony circles in India, is using a door-to-door marketing strategy, involving members of gram panchayats and trained market-feelers to make residents of villages and small towns aware of the usefulness of mobile telephony and how the system of pre-paid refills work.
According to the company spokesperson, value-for-money handsets priced between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,400 with a plethora of tariff plans to choose from is what is driving subscription growth in these regions.
Sanjay Kapoor, joint president, mobility, Bharti Airtel, agrees with the trend and says his company had enjoyed a growth of 166 per cent in June of 2005-06 in circle C towns, as compared to a growth of 65 per cent in metros.
“We are concentrating on improving network connectivity in the rural areas along with existing circles we and are spending $1.5 billion this year for that purpose only,” says Kapoor. Airtel is appointing distributors at the tehsil level and using existing channels of fast moving consumer goods in these areas to push their products.
Reliance Communications will also make investments to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) till March 2007 to enhance its network in the eight global system for mobile communication circles it operates in.
The company plans to extend its GSM network to 4,000 towns in the existing circles of Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, north east, Madhya Pradesh and Kolkata. Currently, its GSM network covers 340 towns in these circles.
A company spokesperson says the company has added over 200,000 subscribers in its eight Category C circles in the previous quarter alone. Reliance is importing handsets in bulk for use in these markets and is trying to leverage its low tariff plans to increase subscriber vase.
Handset manufacturers too are gearing up. Devinder Kishore, director of marketing at Nokia India, notes that handsets priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 are reasonably popular in these regions.
“While the handset market in India is growing at an approximate rate of 75 per cent annually, about 30 per cent of the demand comes from metros now. The rural market, therefore is growing rapidly in terms of sales and it has a tremendous potential in future,” he says.
Nokia is using channels with territorial reach like Doordarshan and All India Radio to reach the interiors. The company has also incorporated nine Indian languages on certain handsets to promote sales.
Says Dinesh Sharma, marketing and sales head of Samsung CDMA, “Sales in category C towns are growing at a rapid pace. Currently the fasted growing circles for us are the categories A and B. Sales in metros have been slower, although absolute numbers are growing as almost a per cent of urban populace buy a phone every month”.
Sharma feels that for rural areas, incorporating local languages in handsets will become a focus area in future, as will be voice short messaging service, the latter dependent on service providers.
“Rural India is keen on high feature phones but not as much as urban India. A customer in the rural area is happy to have features, which are available in the urban markets. They are happy to have colour handsets, other accessories like phone book wherein he can store details of contacts, games, alarm tones and so on,” explains H S Bhatia, National Product Group Head- GSM Division, LG Electronics India.
Industry experts feel an estimated investment of around $6.5 billion would be needed to increase India’s rural tele-density to four per cent from the current one. With the current investments, the expectation may not be far off the mark.
Source- http://inhome.rediff.com
Technorati : BSNL, Bharti Airtel, Hutchison Telecom, India, Reliance Communication
Ice Rocket : BSNL, Bharti Airtel, Hutchison Telecom, India, Reliance Communication
