German Family Racks Up More Than €12,000 on Cruise Ship Roaming Charges

A family from Berlin, Germany, incurred mobile roaming charges of over €12,000 (US $13,922)  during a cruise trip from northern Germany to Norway, according to a news report. The surcharges arose after the family’s 12-year-old son viewed a number of videos on his smartphone, which was connected to a mobile network via a satellite-internet connection. The mobile provider is now demanding over €12,000 in payment for roughly 470 MB of data consumed by the family, arguing that the use of cruise ships’ mobile networks via satellite is expensive. 
 
The mobile provider has since reduced the roaming charges to roughly €5,000 (US $5,801) “as an act of goodwill.” However, the family has retained a lawyer and is taking legal action against the charges. The cruise line, Reederei Color Line, said it was sorry for the incident and that customers should inform themselves about roaming charges at sea beforehand, noting that using the cruise line’s internet Wi-Fi network would have been cost-transparent alternative.
 
This tale of epic bill shock, while perhaps not of great consequence in the larger world of telecommunications, is nonetheless a good object lesson about the ever-present need for transparency and good customer relations. 
 
Without a doubt, by today's standards of data consumption, 470 MB is a very small amount of data indeed. That a mobile customer should be billed €12,000 for it is of course, totally disproportionate, not to mention unaffordable. However, we concede the point of the unnamed operator, that use of a ship's satellite-based network is expensive and that the operator is within its rights to pass the charges on to the end user.  In this case, though, we believe that forgiveness of the charge would have been the better option, by far, for the operator. While we do not know what the markup was in this case, reducing the charge to a still-onerous €5,000 does not really solve the problem, from a customer relations point of view.
 
While it is true that users have the responsibility of informing themselves about surcharges and terms of service in advance, we take this story as a warning to service providers that full transparency coupled with aggressive publication of relevant information is essential in avoiding situations like the present one. Bill shock at this level is bound to end in public-relations disaster for any operator. Whatever the outcome of the German lawsuit, it will not make this operator look good, either to existing subscribers or potential subscribers.  

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance.  

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com 

Hungarian Data Roaming Doubles After End of Surcharges

The number of Hungarians who use mobile internet abroad since the elimination of roaming fees in the EU on 15 June 2017 has nearly doubled compared to when the fees still applied, according to a research study whose results have just been published. Some 900,000 people used data roaming when the study was conducted in October 2017. In addition to that, nearly 2.5 million Hungarian subscribers used roaming for making or receiving calls and 1.8 million used it for texting.
 
More than a third (37 percent) of respondents reported using mobile data in another EU country since the scrapping of fees. Not only has the number of data roamers grown, but they also go online abroad more often since they need to rely less on Wi-Fi for connectivity. Of all respondents who reported using roaming for voice calls, 12 percent had never done so before the policy change. Seven percent of respondents reported that they took up texting after the change.
 
Mobile operators had long opposed the European Commission’s plans to ban surcharges for roaming usage. When the ban finally went through, after much debate and many reversals, there was serious concern in the industry about loss of revenue. Now that some time has passed in which to assess the actual impact of the policy change, studies such as this one in Hungary can provide some perspective on the matter.
 
Among Hungarian mobile subscribers, within just four months of the end of the surcharges, the study at hand recorded a nearly 100 percent increase in the number of who used data while traveling in EU countries. It is certainly reasonable to expect that that number has grown significantly by now. And as the study pointed out, not only the number of roaming-data users but the amount of data consumed per user has likely also increased.
 
As a result, Hungarian MNOs have seen and will continue to see major growth in mobile data usage among Hungarian travelers in the EU. As a trend, this is encouraging, though whether it will fully offset the loss of roaming-surcharge revenue is not currently possible to tell.

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance.  

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com 

T-Mobile US Wins Mobile Service Contract With Shell

Mobile operator T-Mobile US has announced that it won a contract to provide mobile services to Shell Oil Company, the U.S. subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. The offering includes eliminating roaming fees with high-speed international data, upgrading in-building coverage for 7,000 of Shell’s corporate employees across the U.S., and providing in-person support for employees setting up and connecting their devices. The roaming offer includes unlimited data and texting in over 140 countries.
 
T-Mobile’s disruptive “Un-carrier” strategy, which has allowed the operator to make significant gains in the consumer and small-business markets, is now being applied to—and succeeding in—the enterprise market. Acquiring Shell as a customer is certainly a major coup for the operator. “Two years ago, we set out to break down pain points for small and mid-sized businesses,” said T-Mobile president and CEO John Legere, referring to Un-carrier for Business, launched in 2015, “but we quickly learned that—surprise—large enterprises want a great network at a great price, too.”
 
With this contract, T-Mobile US has added some 7,000 individual customers, making it a very large revenue opportunity. In such a situation, forgoing the revenue from international roaming is well worth it for the operator, considering the advantage of roam-like-home data (and texting) as a deal-sweetener for a large corporation with many of its personnel traveling frequently on business.
 
While T-Mobile touts the strength and coverage of its 4G/LTE network, working with Shell to boost coverage inside its buildings is also good strategy, given the extent to which signal blockage due to structures continues to be a problem for customers of all operators. Again, economies of scale make it possible to offer this kind of value-added customer service to an enterprise client.
 
For large MNOs, the personal-attention approach and money-saving incentives that have worked for small and medium businesses can also foster relationships with large corporations that have the potential to drive large amounts of revenue to operators. 

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance. 

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com 

EU Residents Slow to Increase Roaming Usage Despite End to Surcharges

Although a large majority of European Union residents are aware that roaming surcharges were abolished on 15 June, a majority of those who traveled within the EU since that date are still restricting their usage in some way, according to a survey by Eurostat. The survey, which was conducted in late August across all 28 EU states, found that 71 percent of people know about the end of roaming charges, and of those who have traveled to another EU country since 15 June, the figure is 86 percent.
 
Thirty-one percent of respondents said they used mobile internet as much abroad as at home since 15 June, compared to 15 percent of those who traveled in the EU before the changes took effect. The number who do not use mobile data abroad fell to 21 percent from 42 percent. More than twice as many also made calls abroad (24 percent versus 11 percent.)
 
However, 60 percent of those who traveled after 15 June said they made an effort to either turn off their phones, turn off data roaming or buy an alternative SIM card or roaming package. Of those who traveled before 15 June, the figure was 66 percent.
 
After all the hoopla attending the debate over roaming charges within the EU and the eventual, long-awaited abolition of such charges, one would imagine that European mobile users would be reveling in their new-found freedom to “roam like at home.” And yet as this survey shows, significantly more than half of travelers are still acting as if there were a reason to avoid using mobile services, especially data. Considering the small physical footprints of most EU states and the frequency with which EU residents cross borders, this is a serious issue.
 
While mobile operators generally opposed the end to roaming charges on the grounds that they were a rich source of revenue, non-utilization of services cannot be good for operators. If the surcharges were in fact keeping subscribers from using services, ending those charges should eventually have a positive effect on revenue.
 
However, it is clear that user behavior has lagged behind changing realities, most likely for no other reason than that old habits die hard. Since this usage pattern represents a shortfall in both revenue and network utilization, it should be addressed aggressively. MNOs should be thinking creatively about how to raise awareness and publicize the advantages of roaming. And if information alone is not enough (and it may not be, given that the vast majority of users say they know that the surcharges have ended), then something more may be necessary. Operators may wish to consider promotions offering incentives to those who keep their data switched on while traveling abroad.
 
Another thing that operators could do, which does fall under the heading of providing information, is to make clear to users that the service caps that are in place under the new regulations are not set at a level that would interfere with ordinary use, especially during short-term travel. Since users are often unaware of their usage levels per unit time, a clear explanation could help in this regard.




Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance. 

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com 

24 Seven SIM-Based National Roaming

British MVNO 24 Seven has released a SIM-based solution that allows users to roam domestically on the networks of a number of providers, searching for the best signal if a sufficiently strong signal cannot be found immediately. The system seeks out the strongest signal and automatically connects the device to that network, allowing the user to stay connected even in areas where their network providers’ coverage is unreliable.

In the U.K., there are four major service providers and a constantly growing number of MVNOs. Mobile penetration is relatively high, but the subscriber base continues to grow, as clients use multiple SIMs and devices. The competition among the service providers is high, so the operators are constantly creating new plans to increase and/or stabilize their position on the market, yet the problems with unreliable network coverage reported by subscribers have not been satisfactorily addressed. According to the most recent reports, it has been estimated that 20 percent of the U.K. suffers from undependable mobile phone signals, caused by a number of factors including geography and network coverage. The U.K. government has just unveiled proposals to improve coverage across the country; among the potential solutions listed are dual-SIM handsets, infrastructure sharing and mobile roaming. While the new offer introduced by 24 Seven might not seem like a long-term solution, it could improve overall quality of service until a more permanent solution is worked out. In addition, 24 Seven’s solution could be a good source of revenue for all parties involved.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues or to speak with the research team:  http://www.tarifica.com/contactus.aspx

U.K. Prime Minister Unhappy With Mobile Coverage

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has recently instructed his cabinet ministers to find ways to improve mobile coverage in the country’s rural areas. This directive follows a meeting that was held between the chief executives of the U.K.’s mobile operators and the country’s former culture secretary, Maria Miller, in Q1 2014 to start planning for an increase in rural mobile coverage. The new culture secretary, Sajid Javid, will take on the project and meet with MNO executives for a progress update. The operators were asked to explore, in particular, the costs of adding coverage to the A and B roads in the villages of Shropshire, Dorset and Norfolk. As part of these discussions, the U.K. government has asked that the prospect of national roaming be considered—an idea that the operators are resisting. They argue that revenues lost through national roaming could prevent them from investing in their own networks and infrastructure and that a better way to help increase coverage would be to decrease the amount of bureaucracy and cost involved in erecting masts (towers) in rural areas.

Over the last few years, the U. K. government has launched several initiatives to help bring increased mobile and broadband coverage to areas of the country where there is minimal coverage or none at all—known as “notspots.” Among these initiatives are the mobile infrastructure project (MIP) and Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK). However, both of these programs have received criticism. For example, BDUK has been accused of mismanaging funds, operating in an inefficient manner and favoring BT over the country’s other operators. This new order from the Prime Minister is separate from the previous endeavors, and although the country’s four largest MNOS are all increasing their investments in 4G services, the operators fear that the reasons behind the regulation have a number of different bases—the areas in which the government has asked for increased coverage are core Conservative Party voting territories.

 

“Although the U.K. communications regulator Ofcom must act within the powers and duties set for it by Parliament, and its principal duty is to further the interests of citizens and consumers—which include increased coverage in underserved areas—regulators also need to try to work with operators. Any undue pressure—possibly politically driven in this case—on the regulator to implement changes under the guise of increasing service in the telecom industry may be met with resistance by the operators.”

Kamely Hayes,

Managing Editor,

The Tarifica Alert

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues:  http://www.tarifica.com/TarificaAlert.aspx