Nevertheless, it is something I'd view as possible commercially privileged information sent only to selected trade parties, with some details not intended for general release

Andy -
You guys do a great job here. However, what is the harm in a post that gives a link to another site to help verify what has been a rumor for at least 2 weeks. (I didn't post anything because I had no source I could quote.)
I had made a post a year ago or so about the "rumors" that at least a few of these companies would be shutting down in the near future. Some did, others like UM have hung on. I was heavily criticized for that post since I couldn't quote anything concrete. At that time, the rumors were just "chatter" in the industry.
I don't know how long ago the UM situation became "public". I didn't hear about it until 2 weeks ago - but couldn't name a quotable source - so didn't post.

The conventional news media prefaces stories by leading w. "unnamed sources" all the time, or prints stories like "rumors on Wall St. say company A is in merger talks w. company B.

I see nothing wrong w. someone posting something that is clearly listed as a "rumor" or "unverified source". If someone here posts a "rumor" others who have been holding back could help verify (or deny) or add more info.

FYI, when I head the rumor, I had assumed that the whole of UM was "shutting down". (My rumor sources were oral, never saw anything written.) Obviously my assumption was premature since it is now verified that only the +423 side is "up for sale" w. a 2/16 deadline.

...mike

I have to disagree with this. Even if the information is not meant for the general public, the general public should be informed. Journalists for example do love to use information like this and share it.

A forum like this about prepaid and global roaming specifically is ideal to share this information. Sure you have to be carefull if the giving information is correct and not a hoax. That said if the information is correct even if it's commercial or privileged I see no problem sharing this as the information is surely interesting for current users and potential users.

Mike, you can keep dragging up that so-called rumour all the time until it comes true, but it still hasn't happened yet in the terms you said at the time.

Part of the criticism was that much of what you and your informant asserted was based on incorrect assumptions, the so-called free ride ending, wrong guesswork about the governance and taxation systems of certain territories, etc.

Since then, the EU regulator has brought in cheaper roaming for main networks, which will have made things harder for global SIMs to compete. Pity your chatterers didn't predict that instead.

Andy -
What you say is correct (re: EU). I am in the U.S. and those rules don't affect users from here. Part of the reason UM (and to some extent the Estonian based services) are troublesome for U.S. users is that some carriers block calls entirely to +423 mobiles and the rest charge a small fortune. I gather this is true for EU users (and others) as well.
It would seem a UM, TravelSIM, MaxRoam et al service can compete for customers outside the EU and compete for everyone traveling outside the U.S. Is the major problem that most UM customers from the EU?


....mike

Guys, it's of course fine for me if you talk about this subject, but posting a whole e-mail on a forum is not correct, since e-mails are private messages, not public. So you can say you received an e-mail saying this and that, but please don't copy/paste it in a public forum, at least here.

Guys,

Seems like you cant win here on this forum. I post a comment that UM is for sale, no one believes me. I post the proof, everyone says you shouldnt post that. For goodness sake make up you minds what you what.... Do you want validated information which you all seem to insist on validating yourselves otherwise the person sending it is lying or making it up or else you think its all rubbish or what.....

I'm the administrator of this forum and I believe to what you posted. I also wrote to Sven Donhuysen to ask him for official information. In any case on this forum you CANNOT post private mails or messages. This is the rule. We have very strict laws about privacy here in Italy and I'm going to respect them. I never asked you to post a proof of what you said. So just respect this simple rule, I'm not asking anything more.

I talked with Sven Donhuysen, CEO of United Mobile, and he confirmed me that UM won't focus on the +423 MVNO anymore in the near future and they will launch a new product in the next weeks.
Nothing will change for +423 customers but we'll know something more at the end of February.

That's all for now.

Here's what I'll never understand regarding this...

UM+423 was a very stable, very good, very reliable product.

And then suddenly termination fees to Liechtenstein increased almost 5 fold making it uneconomical for people to call Liechtenstein mobile number.

The question is what was the force behind these increases in termination fees (that have also affected Estonian and Icelandic numbers but those were a bit high to begin with but also jumped through the roof).....were it the regular telcoms who saw their good lives of overcharging for roaming being shoved down their throats? Does the same fate await IOM and Jersey numbers?

Actually I note termination fees, at least from the USA, are a bit higher to most +44 numbers than they are to many other European destinations.

To me, a great believer in conspiracy theories something really smells fishy.

Thank goodness for the eu administrators for the eu roaming rates. May this Ms. Redding be blessed and may she suceed in her endeavors to make receiving of calls 0 throughout the eu ASAP.....