All Belgium Base simcards soon to be deactivated
 

Interesting news from Base KPN Belgium.
KPN Group Belgium, Base's parent company, said a number of unpaid bills was the real reason for swicthing network. The case is now before a court.

News in Dutch
Base vecht uitspraken directeur Tellink aan - Telecompaper

Base betwist de redenen van Michael Leiner van Tellink om met de MVNO over te stappen op het netwerk van Mobistar. Volgens Leiner beschikt Base niet over een goed 3G netwerk en zijn er geen interessante roamingakkoorden. Volgens KPN Group Belgium ligt echter een aantal onbetaalde facturen door Tellink aan de basis ligt van de beslissing. De rechter moet nu een oordeel vellen over het conflict. Ook zegt Base wijst dat 3G wel degelijk snel evolueert. KPN heeft afgelopen jaren 800 miljoen euro geïnvesteerd in het Belgische Base-netwerk.

Simcards based on +32 numbers as Maxroam, Celtrek, Clay Telecom, Searoam, Roamingsim, Travelnroam are concerned.

My Maxroam SIM still works, even on the BASE (Belgium) network itself. But it seems there will be a switch soon:
Source: http://corporate.mobistar.be/go/en/m...fm?news_id=169

I saw that MaxRoam did not offer the Belgium(Classic Sim/+33) any more. Now they offer UK(Global Sim/+44) with terrible rates.

I just got my Maxroam Classic Sim to replace my Celtrek card.

Boy this game is getting old. I hope they work things out.

It seems a bit ironic that one of the reasons given by the man from Tellink is better roaming opportunites. There are some other views expressed by one of the companies involved.

The Maxroam Classic SIM is still on offer in their webshop. There are differences between the Global (+44/UK) and Classic (+32/Belgium) cards. Take a look at the FAQ's, Coverage and Rates. It is still a mystery to me what will happen in the future with the +32 SIM cards!

Happy for anyone to test the quality on our new MAXROAM +44 service which we offer in conjunction with our +32 offering
lots of new features on the 44 service and lots of bundles/etc
If anyone would like a test SIM, I am always happy to receive emails from interested parties at pat@maxroam.com
Please note (to the admin team here) this is not a giveaway offer, just would be delighted to have "qualified" testers

I forget to mention above
NO CALLBACK in over 100 countries
We dont like old technologies here at MAXROAM
All our SIM cards are 3G/HSDPA

Why would a legit vendor sell a product aiming to be obsolete in next weeks?
Their UK SIM is a Callkey rebranded product. Rates are ridiculous.


According to Mobistar new agreement is for 3 years only. Pointless.

This game is pretty much over. Roaming is regulated in Europe. Prepaid offers from carriers are looking more attractive. Remains few markets in Africa and India with increased payment related issues. From a user experience callback days are almost over in Western countries.

I think not.

It doesn't use callback, as Pat Phelan mentioned above.

I can't say I'm attracted to a roaming rate of €2.99 a minute, where my UK networks would charge £1.00 or less. Perhaps that's a glitch or can be reviewed

Andy
Now you know why I hate joining in here, I think we are all aware of people with multiple accounts in here hiding their real face.
Our product is not Callkey rebranded or any other rebranding I am sure any one of the O Preys who are on here can confirm this
Cubic Telecom is now a fully licensed MNO
Not sure where the above pricing arises but if you want to check the below link
250 minutes with no callback in 43 countries with full 3G/HSDPA for €79 is pretty awesome value.
my email is above, if anyone wants a test card (they can check the IMSE themselves then :-) , drop me a line but thats it for me.
thanks for taking the time

forgot the link :-)
Product Detail

I have no idea which alleged multiple accounts you are attempting to make insinuations about.

As for not being sure about the source of a tariff I mentioned, try this:

http://www.maxroam.com/Info/Rates.aspx

global SIM, South Africa to United Kingdom

€1.59 incoming, €2.99 outgoing

I think it's fair to look up such a rate, given a recent press release on behalf of your company

The same rates seem to apply from and to most countries in the world. As I suggested, if they are wrong then correct them.

The rates shown for within Europe and a couple of other cheap countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, are €0.09 incoming, €0.39 outgoing to landlines; mobile destinations don't seem to be listed

We seem to have a different understanding of the abbreviation MNO, which I took to mean a network in its own right.

How many minutes does this equal in plain GSM? Will you ever support HSUPA and if so how can I learn speaking fast enough?

Andy
should you wish to try the same calculation
click "classic sim" then click "callback" below
I think you will find the rates you were looking for :-)
glad I could be of assistance

@inquisitor
250 minutes is as "plain GSM" as I can speak, its 4 hours plus 10 minutes :-)
we have no plans to support HSUPA at present

They have no clue what MNO is or else they wouldn't be using this abbreviation.

Classic is the Tellink product soon to be dead if I follow correctly. Isn't it misleading to be selling such an item knowing the short lifespan?

Gert

I might be missing something obvious here, or I am calculating this wrong. However, doesn't this new Euro SIM card of Pat's work out at worse value than any prepaid European SIM card being used within the EU on the Euro capped tariffs? At least with the latter you get the benefit of cheaper calls (and free incoming calls) in the country of issue.

I think I'm reasonably able to find rates, thank you, as we've already seen.

I'd have thought there was room for the new product to have better rates in the rest of the world outside Europe and a couple of other countries, when compared to its underlying platform's rates.

Andy
I was only trying to help. you seemed unable to find the correct South Africa rates and I was delighted to be able to help and point you in the correct direction.
As for Global rates they change all the time and I am sure lots more will change over the next while.
I am not sure what you mean by "underlying platform" as there is not other service involved in this platform
Anyway, I had better take my leave, As I said anyone who would like a test sim and some credit just drop me a line
we sent out the first batch today.

I am not going to South Africa, but I just hought it might be topical for some people.

However, if I have found incorrect rates, like the €2.99 I mentioned and you said you couldn't understand their source, those are simply what I found on your website.

Likewise, I make a judgement about what other company is involved, as indicated by the phone number, and that's the main reason I thought I could correct someone's assumption above, and also comment on comparing rates.

Well Andy
you know what they say about assumptions
I will again REITERATE Cubic Telecom is now a licensed "Mobile Network Operator"
I hope this makes it clear enough for anyone who has been following this string.

In which territory is your main network operating, and which regulatory body issued these licences and let the frequencies?

Ireland? USA? United Kingdom? Liechtenstein? Jersey?

How is it that you are using numbers allocated to another network, rather than your own?

Our licence is mainland Europe
we are using MSISDN'S from multiple countries, we just decided to start with the UK, we will add mutiple numbers over the next few months
we also supply DIDS from 66 countries
Why do I feel we are always on trial here Andy :-)

So these would be arrangements with a series of MNOs to use their identities?

I think some people would be interested to see a UK MSISDN. Can you give an idea when it will become available?

And will you be using BASE or Mobistar for a Belgian ID, or is it too soon to say?

I can categorically confirm that Pat is correct and MaxRoam are not using the CallKey platform.

Regards

John O'Prey

CoSpeed / CallKey

I sent a series of emails to most European telecommunication authorities, GSM Association and a few carriers linking to this thread.
I'll post my findings as they come along.

Here is the list of Mobile Network Operators in Europe as of June 28th 2010.
List of mobile network operators of Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gert

Ok here we go again. You don't like old technology meaning other companies are using outdated technology.

Sometimes old technology seems to work very well and the old callback type sims still offer some better rates. But wait if you are modern you just have to pay more, that's part of being modern.

Your roaming rates for eu are not impressive at all. Maximum call rate set by the eu is 0.39 euro without vat. You are at that level, don't know if this is with or without vat. Even regular local sims have the simular or even lower rates.

USA roaming 0.99 euro per minute incoming. some of these old callback type sims have free USA roaming. So a no go for your sim when used in the USA.

Same for some other countries, south africa, huge incoming ekit is free for example.

some other your rates can compete so it all depens on countries but in gernral I am not impressed with your offer.

You have changed platforms before in the past, probably to offer user the best technology everytime :-)

You are offering 66 DID for different countires, not impresses there are many companies that can do this. Everyone can become a reseller for these voip companies. Most of these overcharge these voip numbers anyhow.
Germany you can get voip for free, Netherland 10 euro per year. You start at 3 euro per month and up. so again not impressed here.

The last thing I don't understand is you have a uk number and charge for incoming calls in the uk even if you are in the uk.

Gert, are you here on the attack? What exactly is your objective in sending these emails? If it is to merely discredit MaxRoam, then I can say that most members here are not interested in your personal war with them.

That Wikipedia list is by no means comprehensive. It is missing plenty of MVNO's.

Thank you Petkow
I appreciate your message
we have tried to engage here on numerous occasions, I find it at times to be full of so called "experts"
We do fine and we will continue to do fine
We have consistently advanced our offerings and our technologies and have never left 1 customers without 1 cent unlike many others including ones that used to sponsor this forum
We have never not engaged even under this constant pressure/"Harassment"
I am SURE one of the other "experts" will reply to this email THOUGH I would rather they not
Have a great weekend :-)

Yesterday i met a friend who recently bought a new Global SIM card from Maxroam.
Some facts i noticed about the SIM:
- In Holland it only roams on Vodafone, not on KPN or T-Mobile.
- The UK phone number (dial *123#) starts with +44793 (Jersey)
- The number on the SIM starts with 89423 (Liechtenstein)
- The phone says that Vodafone NL is its 'home' network
- The SMSC also seems to be at Vodafone NL
So all in all it's rather an original combination!

My initial post on this thread was in regards to a statement made by Base. Maxroam stepped in stating they now carry an alternative product.
Why are they still offering a SIM card soon to be deactivated?

Cubic Telecom/Maxroam claims to be a licensed "Mobile Network Operator". I doubt it's true.
None of institutions contacted have records of Cubic Telecom being "licensed".
Unless Maxroam can provide tangible information I (including others here) will continue to believe it's a lie. It goes directly to their credibility.

Gert

It isn't a UK number; its 079373 series is allocated to Jersey Telecom.

And for the interest of UK readers, Jersey isn't included in all UK main networks' inclusive minutes, so for some of those it might be better to explore Maxroam's availability of incoming landline numbers rather than stump up extra to one's own network for calling or forwarding to these numbers.

On the other hand, maybe ...

Thank you for this Andy
we will take all your positive :-) points onboard and will review them.
Thanks again everyone and many thanks for everyone who emailed us the kind messages.
you should have your SIM cards by now
Happy testing

Maxroaming offers 250 minutes plus sms for 79 EURO. So:
- It's not unlimited but 250 minutes plus 100 sms
- It's a bundle so half of the people do not use all minutes but do pay the full amount and the other half uses more so they pay extra and these tariffs are higher
- An incoming minute is also a full minute
- 100 sms in europe would cost 13 euro so 79 - 13 = 66 / 250 = 26,4 cents per average minute. our average minute is much lower because incoming is much cheaper

So............ it's not cheaper but just smart marketing. Every one can also offer bundles if they like. The disadvantage is that you do not know on forehand what margin you will make which you do with your current model.
Different models
1. Minute price plus fixed margin => you know exactly what margin you make
2. Minute price plus connection fee => your margin depends on the average lenght of a call
3. Bundle => your margin depends on how many minutes people call on average and the spread between incoming and outgoing

Thanks for the comment on our "Smart Marketing"
As we have mentioned numerous times our service is not callback which I presume you service is, our customers can receive the calls on the DID if they feel like it at the same price with DID'S practically at cost.
I am surprised that the forum administrators (or am I ) allow companies to "slag" each other off here :-)
I would remind you of an old saying though "People who live in glass houses should get undressed in the dark" nice to see you guys back, we were getting worried it was sooooooo long.

Pat, callback or not who cares.

Your solution when used in europe is not cheaper than many other regular sim card. Hence Vodaphone even has cheaper solutions in europe that what you are offering.

As for some countries you have fair rates but for others you have very high incoming. I repeat myself USA is free incoming on the UK number form many callback sim cards. You charge for that. Same applies to other countries.

As for the did there is 1 thing i learned the last years on this forum, never rely on a company here to buy your did number. They change platforms to many times. In case there is a problem your did number is worthless and final your did prices are just to high.

I know there are huge differences in did prices and some don't mind paying to much, but if you look further you can get many for free or at very low prices.

I would be easier to setup you owen pbx using did numbers and than forward this to your mobile. In case you decide to change platforms again or any other providers one would just buy a new card from another provider and forward to that number

I will repeat it once again to all DEALERS and people involved in the telecom business.
READ HERE:
PrePaidGSM.net Forum - Announcements in Forum : International GSM prepaid cards
These are the rules. We don't want flame wars between operators here.

Maybe Pat (Maxroam) could tell us if something is going to happen with Maxroam SIMs based on the +32 platform. Will they be deactivated as stated in this topic OR are these Classic SIMs to be transfered onto a new platform if necessary?

I forward my own DIDs via my PBX. I am also implementing the Digium Skype to SIP gateway so that my mobile can be dialed from the ringtoskype gateway from numerous countries using a local number plus three digit extension.

Like most people on those forum, I am willing to work fairlymhard to keep my price down. Many people want a one stop shop. I presume this is maxroam's target audience.

On phones, I am like my mother-in-law who is a compulsive coupon clipper and organizes her shopping to squeeze every last dollar out of the process. She filled a grocery cart for $15 two weeks ago. The stores will never make money ger. We are the same. The best a roaming SIM company can hope to make off someone who has his own callbackserver, routes his/her own DIDs, etc is a modest profit.

I agree! They really must have a love-hate relationship with most of us on this forum! ;)

Though a DIY solution is attractive on many counts, personally, the one thing I find always ends up costing me more than I had bargained for are some good stable DID's that I can reliably forward to a SIP address of my choice. Though many providers do appear to give you free/cheap DID's, for several countries these are quite restrictive.

I am not up to date with Maxroams offerings, as I will admit I steered clear of them after what I interpreted as misleading pricing on their site. However, for me a "One-stop solution" would involve me having full control over the DID's that they provide. This might involve disactivating the default forwarding to the roaming SIM and instead allow forwarding to a SIP address, fixed line or national SIM. Is this something Maxroam now provide?