Third-generation mobile player 3 Group has unveiled a new pricing policy that permits its customers to travel abroad and make calls on other 3 networks for a price similar to their network at home.
The company said the policy will also apply to SMS, multimedia messages, video calling and other data services.
It said the new strategy is consistent with the European Commission’s campaign to reduce the cost of mobile calls when roaming in Europe.
The new strategy will apply to Irish 3 customers travelling in UK, Italy, Austria, Australia, Hong Kong, Sweden and Denmark.
“Customers on the old networks might be right in thinking ROAM means ‘Rip Off Anyone with a Mobile’,” 3 Ireland’s chief executive Robert Finnegan claimed. “3 is the first operator in Ireland to offer its customers the same great value they get at home – for calls, texts and video calls – when they’re travelling abroad.”
3’s global mobile network covers 11 markets with a population coverage of 175 million. The company had 14 million customers worldwide at the end of 2006.
“While 3 customers will continue to face higher charges if they roam onto a non-3 network, this is because of the high wholesale charges required by many of 3’s roaming partners,” commented Christian Salbaing, managing director of European Telecommunications at 3 Group.
“We hope the European Commission will be successful in significantly reducing these wholesale charges, which will allow price reductions for customers roaming between different operators within Europe,” Salbaing added.
By John Kennedy
