What would it take for an intl. card to be more competitive and successful?

[snidely]

I think there is a place for this type of service . It would be necessary to have the options business depends on. A service that counts mainly on "consumers" doesn't generate enough revenue to make it profitable. (ARPU). What is necessary is a direct agreement w. a "mainline" carrier, data and/or Blackberry, and, if there is callback required - hide the perception of callback from the user. The ability that Yackie had, and Maxroam and CelTrek has, to add numbers local to the users - is a definite plus
One impediment to being competitive for U.S. customers is that U.S. T-Mobile customers can travel overseas and enable intl Blackberry service while they are traveling for about 70 cents/day. ATT charges more and you have to keep it "on" all the time - not just the days you need it. No intl. SIM has BB service. (Do any have data?)
BB is almost a requirement for business users here. Even our President is addicted.

It would seem this should be feasible. If T-Mobile can let me roam in lots of countries for 29-32 cents a minute (and obviously make money since they haven't canceled those of us on those old plans) - then there is room for some MVNO/intl travel card to offer low rates.
The problem might be that "mainline" carriers might see it as a threat to their own business. Maybe that's why you see most intl. cards tied to obscure countries like Lichtenstein, Estonia, IOM etc.
OTH, MVNO operators "compete" against their own provider in many countries and everyone seems happy (altho in the U.S. several large ones have folded in the last couple years).

...mike

[money69]

Well, eventually I think the carrier's will wise up and determine like they did on cellphone service here in the US and other places that they can make far more money selling to the masses at an affordable rate then selling at a higher rate to the few people who can afford it. This wont happen until people wise up and say that $4 a min to call anywhere is too much money especially when your home company is doing nothing but billing you for it.

The best thing people can do is to create sites like this one to educate the public and for as many people as possible to use work arounds and local sims so the major companies take notice.

If voicestream could be profitable at 29c a minute 8 years ago and the cost of voice calls has definitely dropped then $1-$5 a min is just crazy!

[GadgetKen]

No international prepaid gsm sim card has great rates everywhere, 100% reliability on callbacks plus data on any device, and sterling customer service...and yes I wish there was such an animal. The underlying carrier or the roaming clearinghouse they use can negotitate good rates with some carriers but not with others. Agree a Maxroam, Celtrek or Yackie local number is good. Data is available currently on some internationals sims(Mobal, United Mobile, Maxroam), but not sure how many callback sims, if any, support Blackberry devices. Incidentally I heard on NPR that for President Obama's Blackberry, they needed to route it through White House computer servers, and implement other security measures on it.

Think realistically the best solution currently is an assortment of prepaid sims (international, regional, or country specific), a prepaid landline calling card good for cheap calls from the country you are in, some change to feed into a payphone, a small wifi device or laptop with mobile phone data capabilities (GSM or other digital standards), and for those with maritime needs or traveling to way out of the way places...a satphone.

[MrEd]

Global SIMs are not much different from "normal" SIMs in terms of compromises.

Like "normal" SIMs they may have compromises in some rates in some locations. A compromise is relative to what the end user is looking for. What suits one user may not suit another. Example, would a Vodafone user prefer to pay £1.75 to call the UK from UAE and £1.25 to receiver, or circa £0.40 to make calls and receive for free? the compromise being having a different number and a callback. In some countries the differential may not be so great so perhaps the user would stick with their "normal" SIM. In the extreme, some want "everything for nothing", but most reasonable users are willing to pay for a service offering savings and quality.

Data is becoming available on Global SIMs - GeoSIM has this now on its latest version of SIMs.

Reliability is mentioned. In comparing using my O2 and GeoSIM abroad I find them comparable - in fact virtually identical in the number of missed and dropped calls. Some people are "quick to blame" a global SIM itself for poor connection because its not their "normal" SIM and are "looking for" problems because they have the misconceptionn that it will be of lower quality. Some SIMs may have calls routed via poor quality carriers, but provided a call is routed via quality carriers (tier 1), then the call quality is down to the weakest link which is often the "final mile" or "over the air", which is dependant on the local carrier being used. As many global SIMs use the same recognised carriers as the "normal" SIMs, the call quality on a global SIM should be the same as if using your "normal" sim.

Who says global SIMs are not successful or competitive - the example figures above seem competitive and many users consider such savings as "no brainers". In some cases/countries/regions the differential may not be so great, but the end user makes their choice based on their requirements.

In an ideal world all the criteria would be met, (has great rates everywhere, 100% reliability on callbacks plus data on any device, and sterling customer service). No "normal" SIM has this so why single out Global SIMs?). As I say, the end user makes a judgement on what compromises he or she will accept for their particular situation.

Carrying multiple SIMs, calling cards, dongles, VOIP accounts may be a way of saving a few more pennies but with the compromise of inconvenience, multiple numbers, log ins and systems, something which a good Global SIM will avoid. Some users will be happy to have the relative inconvenience of multiple SIMs and accounts, but the vast majority are far to busy nor technically inclined, and want convenience, fair rates and a reliable, good quality service.

On balance, I think most global SIMs are competitive, reliable and some are successful. Just like some "normal" SIMs

[easyroam-]

Originally Posted by MrEd

some want "everything for nothing", but most reasonable users are willing to pay for a service offering savings and quality

I would agree with you there ed.

People who seem to moan or complain are the ones who buy a travel sim card and then except to make unlimited free inbound calls, very cheep call rates, 24hrs customer service, and then they don't make any outbound calls. When they do make calls, they will then use a sms call-back service to make that call.

Why do you think united mobile and sim4travel are now charging a daily fee and connection charge. There system is being abused and there loosing money.

How do you think we pay for the network fees and the 24hrs customer service.

At the end of the day. If you want good customer service, High quality calls, no connection fee or daily charge - Don't abuse the system !

Travelsim.co.uk

[cloud9]

Originally Posted by easyroam-

I would agree with you there ed.

People who seem to moan or complain are the ones who buy a travel sim card and then except to make unlimited free inbound calls, very cheep call rates, 24hrs customer service, and then they don't make any outbound calls. When they do make calls, they will then use a sms call-back service to make that call.

Why do you think united mobile and sim4travel are now charging a daily fee and connection charge. There system is being abused and there loosing money.

How do you think we pay for the network fees and the 24hrs customer service.

At the end of the day. If you want good customer service, High quality calls, no connection fee or daily charge - Don't abuse the system !

Travelsim.co.uk

I completely agree with you. Why is the Global Roaming market being targetted by its consumers and criticised for fair usage policies when they are used in every industry.

For example I challenge you all to take a look at all of the "unlimited text" or "unlimited call" bundles available from the national carriers. Orange is 3000 texts per month, BT's unlimited calls all have to be less than 60 minutes, and you will find everyones offers are restricted in some way. It is actually fair to say you get what you pay for, and guys everyone has to make at least a small profit or people arent going to be around to offer you that service much longer. The deals may not be the same as they were two years ago but then you go into Sainsburys and you will find many prices so much higher than two weeks ago.....

Something everyone seems to have missed in this debate is the fact the international telephony is one of the first industries to be seriously affected by currency fluctuations. It doesnt matter if you buy in Euro, Sterling or USD, someway along the line it still gets converted from the local currency of the VPMN into SDR's and I can tell you ALL operators are worried about the impact of exchange rates as full GSMA members we have seen the rush ideas for new operating procedures to try and minimise everyones exposure. I have to say I dont think we have seen the last of price rises in the telecoms industry from either the national operators or the global roaming resellers.....

[bbob]

Originally Posted by cloud9

I completely agree with you. Why is the Global Roaming market being targetted by its consumers and criticised for fair usage policies when they are used in every industry.

For example I challenge you all to take a look at all of the "unlimited text" or "unlimited call" bundles available from the national carriers. Orange is 3000 texts per month, BT's unlimited calls all have to be less than 60 minutes, and you will find everyones offers are restricted in some way. It is actually fair to say you get what you pay for, and guys everyone has to make at least a small profit or people arent going to be around to offer you that service much longer. The deals may not be the same as they were two years ago but then you go into Sainsburys and you will find many prices so much higher than two weeks ago.....

As a customers I would like companies to be clear in what they offer and don't have small print saying this or that.

I don't think that we need a discussion about the meaning of the word Unlimited as it speaks for itself, it's very simple no limites and there can be no discussion about that, just take a dictionairy and look it up.
The fact that BT and others provider not only telcom but internet are misusing the word unlimited and than have small print limiting the use is plain and simple screwing the end user and I would love to see a case being taken to court about the word unlimited.

As for fair use this is nice word that can be used to give misinformation to the customer as he does not know what the limites are for fair use. Fair use for a heavy user means something else for a non heavy user.

Don't misunderstand me I have no problems when a company chooses to have limits but these should be clearly communicated to the customer. Don't put them in small prints and hide them on a website. Be clear about them.
If you have fair use say what the average use is and for example allow maximum 2x the average or any other number.

The only problem about being clear is that from a marketing standpoint you don't want to have any limits because this might hold of some customer to choose your service. So for that reason companies choose to have vage terms like fair use or limit unlimited offers in the small print.

I wil not choose a company that hides things in small print and misinforms customers or uses unlimited and than limiting it.
I prefer to choose a company that is honest and clear about their service and or limits. For me this is the proper way of doing business. The other companys well if they are hiding things or make it unclear, do you really want to do business with them.

Business ethics is unfortunatly a words that many seem to forget but luckily there are governments or the EU who do something about this. Take for example booking for flight only and wow for just 10 euro you can fly from london to paris. But wait you book an all of a sudden it's 60 euro instead of 10 euro. Right taxes they just forget to mention that. Luckily in some countries this is forbiden now and advertising is alony allowed showing the price including al costs.