PrePaidGSM.net Forum (Archived) - View Single Post

MATHA531 · 02-12-2010, 23:58

In my opinion, and it's only an opinion, there were several factors and they were all covered. One has to be the introduction of the intra eu rates...it really took away a good portion of the market. Yes it was a tad cheaper to use an international card than your own local card, but the differences began disappearing. If it wasn't costing you all that much to roam in Europe, why would you need the extra card (and I think the other companies have seen a great deal of their subscriber bases erode because of that).

Secondly was location. I don't undersand how these things work, but as the prices for making calls to their number increased through the roof, people were not calling the number nor would you want to give a friend your UM number +423 knowing the cost to caller would pay. During the last year or two of its existance, UM recognized the problem with its attempt to start both a +44 service and a +1 dual numnber. They were simply too late to the table for these things where others got a step on them.

Thirdly are the cheapskapes (like myself admitedly). It was great having free reception of calls throughout all of Europe just about, especially at a time when the add on rate of AT&T for calls to a +423 mobile was 1¢/minute and while their call out rates weren't terrible, comparatively, using call back services cut these rates even further which mean by far too little income for them.

	(#9)
MATHA531 (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Specialist Posts: 869 Join Date: 15 Oct 2004 Country:	02-12-2010, 23:58 In my opinion, and it's only an opinion, there were several factors and they were all covered. One has to be the introduction of the intra eu rates...it really took away a good portion of the market. Yes it was a tad cheaper to use an international card than your own local card, but the differences began disappearing. If it wasn't costing you all that much to roam in Europe, why would you need the extra card (and I think the other companies have seen a great deal of their subscriber bases erode because of that). Secondly was location. I don't undersand how these things work, but as the prices for making calls to their number increased through the roof, people were not calling the number nor would you want to give a friend your UM number +423 knowing the cost to caller would pay. During the last year or two of its existance, UM recognized the problem with its attempt to start both a +44 service and a +1 dual numnber. They were simply too late to the table for these things where others got a step on them. Thirdly are the cheapskapes (like myself admitedly). It was great having free reception of calls throughout all of Europe just about, especially at a time when the add on rate of AT&T for calls to a +423 mobile was 1¢/minute and while their call out rates weren't terrible, comparatively, using call back services cut these rates even further which mean by far too little income for them.