Asia’s 1st pay-per-day flat-rate data roaming tariff plans launched

With an aim of delivering ground-breaking benefits to international roamers and offering the highest level of customer satisfaction in mobile services to corporate and consumer markets, one of the largest mobile alliances in Asia recently announced the launch of their first-ever pay-per-day data roaming flat-rate tariff plan and a host of other privileges.

Conexus Mobile Alliance is one of the largest mobile alliances in Asia with a combined customer base of around 160 million subscribers. It was established in April 2006 and is composed of seven member operators which include: Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Ltd. in Taiwan, Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd. in Hong Kong, PT Indosat Tbk in Indonesia, KT Freetel Co., Ltd. in South Korea, NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan, StarHub Ltd. in Singapore and Smart Communications, Inc. in the Philippines.

These companies have worked to ensure that all members’ customers are able to experience seamless and hassle-free mobile-related services when they roam into members’ networks.

Chairman of Alliance and Head of Starhub’s Advanced Multimedia Services Chan Kin Hung said that, “with the increasing popularity of mobile broadband (HSDPA) roaming in the region, it is important for the Alliance to offer peace of mind to customers. This will demonstrate our commitment in offering to our customers’ cost-effective data roaming charges while they roam onto all member networks.”

In the first quarter of 2008, the seven member companies will jointly roll-out the first pay-per-day data roaming flat rate in Asia and an all-you-can-use data roaming rate will also be offered in some member’s networks.

These offerings will enable member’s customers to travel across countries or cities to check emails, transmit data or surf the Internet via their mobile devices while completely doing away with the need to count data usage.

However, subscription is not required in most of the member networks as member’s customers will be automatically charged based on the data roaming flat rate tariff plan while roaming onto member’s networks.

At the Asia Mobile Congress in Macau, Conexus Mobile Alliance also introduced two member privileges including the SIM Card Replacement and Traveling Connect. Service Centers for SIM card Replacement will be set-up in members’ countries and cities so that corporate users with company registered mobile lines of alliance members will be able to get a new and activated sim card if ever they lose their original ones in other member’s places.

With Conexus Mobile Alliance’s partnership with Traveling Connect, a leading global provider of loyalty management services to the telecommunication industry, mobile phones subscribers from participating member operators can now earn miles or points when traveling abroad and making phone calls on member’s networks and gain rewards from airlines and hotels which are partner companies of Traveling Connect. —Rhia de Pablo