AldiTalk waives roaming cost in EU starting with march 3rd

[fsotirop]

if an Alditalk customer while roaming in Italy calls a French mobile number how much will be the per minute rate? 0.11EUR.?

the 7day period package of 120minutes for eur.4.99 applies for calls only to German numbers or to other EU countries numbers too?

[smudge]

Originally Posted by Motel75

I hope other German prepaids soon copy this. In fact, I'd be surprised if they didn't.

Strong telecoms regulation, together with strong commercial competition, has worked remarkably well in Europe during the last 10 years.

The Figures on pages 4 and 5 of this document show just how well the EU Commission, Ofcom, and the other European telecom regulators have brought down "Mobile Termination Rates" (MTR):

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/bin...MCT_slides.pdf

Perhaps the EU Commission should only allow O2 Germany (Telefonica Germany GmbH & Co. OHG) to takeover Eplus, on condition that O2 also completely eliminates all roaming costs within Europe, by 1st July 2014.

Otherwise, without such a guarantee, it would seem wise to block the takeover and leave Eplus free so that it can introduce additional competitive tariffs and services across Europe.

[inquisitor]

I can't say for sure since there is no official statement from Aldi beyond the following SMS which they have been sending out since February 12th:

"Lieber Aldi Talk Kunde. Ab dem 03.03. telefonieren Sie im EU Ausland zu den gleichen Konditionen wie innerdt. im Aldi Talk Basistarif! Abg. Gespräche zu Aldi Talk 3ct/Min sonst 11ct/Min; ankommende Gespräche im EU Ausland sind kostenlos. SMS innerhalb der EU: 7ct/SMS. Datenverbindung: 23ct/MB. Ab dem 03.03. steht Ihnen im EU Ausland das EU Sprach-Paket 120 (120 abg. Min in die EU) sowie das EU Daten-Paket 120 (120MB) für je 4,99 €/7 Tage zur Verfügung. Info: www.alditalk.de"

in English:

"Dear Aldi Talk customer. From 03.03. your calls from EU countries will be charged the same way as domestic calls on the Aldi Talk "Basistarif"! Outgoing calls to Aldi Talk 3ct/min otherwise 11ct/min; incoming calls in EU countries are free of charge. SMS within the EU: 7ct/SMS. Data sessions: 23ct/MB. From 03.03. the "EU Sprach-Paket 120" (120 outgoing minutes to EU countries) as well as the "EU Daten-Paket 120" (120MB) each for 4,99 €/7 day will be avaible in EU countries. Info: www.alditalk.de"

This message is unclear since on the one hand it says calls in EU countries will be billed as in Germany, from where calls to EU countries cost € 0.12/min to landlines and € 0.29/min to mobiles (see http://www.alditalk.de/nord/Telefoni...Z_highsubsub=0). So you could assume that you will also be billed € 0.12/min or € 0.29/min for calls to other EU countries. However this would violate EU roaming regulation which caps outgoing calls to EU countries at € 0.24/min which will be further lowered from July 1st to € 0.19/min. Against that background the wording "otherwise 11ct/min" could indeed include all EU destinations.
By the way, according to teltarif.de these new EU tariffs will also apply in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland.

[fsotirop]

the other unclear is if 7day period package of 120minutes for eur.4.99 applies for calls only to German numbers or to other EU countries numbers too?

[inquisitor]

No, that is not unclear as it says: "120 abg. Min in die EU"

abg. = abgehend = outgoing
in die EU = into the EU

So those 120min should be valid for calls to any EU destination and perhaps also Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland.

[fsotirop]

Originally Posted by inquisitor

No, that is not unclear as it says: "120 abg. Min in die EU"

abg. = abgehend = outgoing
in die EU = into the EU

So those 120min should be valid for calls to any EU destination and perhaps also Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland.

I think you're wrong, Blau (another Eplus brand) offers free minutes within EU only for calls to German numbers : https://www.blauworld.de/tariff/eu_voice_50 "Im EU-Ausland bis zu 50 Minuten sowohl ankommende als auch abgehende Gespräche nach Deutschland führen"

the package minutes most probably will be billed according to EU regulations, 30''+1''?

[inquisitor]

Originally Posted by fsotirop

I think you're wrong, Blau (another Eplus brand) offers free minutes within EU only for calls to German numbers : https://www.blauworld.de/tariff/eu_voice_50 "Im EU-Ausland bis zu 50 Minuten sowohl ankommende als auch abgehende Gespräche nach Deutschland führen"

That's blau who have totally different tariffs. The wording in Aldi's SMS is clear: "in die EU" (accusative case) means "into the EU" and describes the call destination. If they would refer to call origination (i.e. the geographical location of subscribers) it would say "in der EU" (dative case) meaning "in EU countries", which would leave it unclear which call desinations (only Germany or the whole EU) are covered and if this applies to outgoing and incoming calls.
So we may assume that the 120-minutes package includes outgoing calls from any EU country other than Germany (and perhaps EEA member states + Switzerland) to any EU country (and perhaps EEA member states + Switzerland).

I further assume that calls covered by the 120-minutes package will be rounded up to full minutes. Although operators are obliged to meet EU regulations for the preset standard roaming tariff, they are still allowed to offer alternative roaming tariffs on an opt-in basis that exceed the known price caps and billing increments. So Alditalk would not violate EU regulations if they charge calls under this package by full minutes.

[peterdoo]

Originally Posted by inquisitor

This message is unclear since on the one hand it says calls in EU countries will be billed as in Germany, from where calls to EU countries cost € 0.12/min to landlines and € 0.29/min to mobiles (see http://www.alditalk.de/nord/Telefoni...Z_highsubsub=0). So you could assume that you will also be billed € 0.12/min or € 0.29/min for calls to other EU countries. However this would violate EU roaming regulation which caps outgoing calls to EU countries at € 0.24/min which will be further lowered from July 1st to € 0.19/min. Against that background the wording "otherwise 11ct/min" could indeed include all EU destinations.
By the way, according to teltarif.de these new EU tariffs will also apply in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland.

Alditalk clearly states that wherever they mention "EU" this means countries from their "EU-Länder" list: http://www.alditalk.de/sued/hilfe_un...03.06.2013.pdf. Although no modification of the list is expected, there is however at this moment no official confirmation that Switzerland will stay in the list. While all EU operators are obliged to respect the EU price caps for Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland, there is no such obligation for Switzerland.

To the EU caps of € 0.24/min and € 0.19/min one has to add the VAT of the country in which the operator is resident. In the case of Alditalk 19%. That is why currently they charge € 0.28/min. From July on they will have to lower it to 0.22/min or less.

At the moment Alditalk 7 day 60 minute EU package is only valid for outgoing calls to Germany (Enthalten sind: abgehende Gespräche aus dem EU-Ausland nach Deutschland und ankommende Gespräche im EU-Ausland): http://www.aldi-nord.de/print/aldita...er_2013_10.pdf . The charging interval within the package is 60/60 instead of 30/1 without the package.

In the 7 day 60 MB data package the charging interval currently is 100kB instead of 1 kB without the package.

The wording in the SMS regarding the 120 minute package is quite different. We will have to wait for the official statement.

[Donal]

Originally Posted by peterdoo

Alditalk clearly states that wherever they mention "EU" this means countries from their "EU-Länder" list: http://www.alditalk.de/sued/hilfe_un...03.06.2013.pdf. Although no modification of the list is expected, there is however at this moment no official confirmation that Switzerland will stay in the list. While all EU operators are obliged to respect the EU price caps for Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland, there is no such obligation for Switzerland.

Switzerland is included in the Eplus "Base EU Reise Flat" tariff. http://www.base.de/Tarife/Ausland/BA...e-Flat?mode=nk

The "Base EU-Länder" are:

Aeland Island, Belgien, Bulgarien, Dänemark, Estland, Finnland, Frankreich (inkl. Monaco, frz.Guayana, La Réunion), Gibraltar, Griechenland, Großbritannien (inkl. Kanalinseln), Guadeloupe (Karibik), Irland, Island, Italien (inkl. Vatikanstadt und San Marino), Kroatien, Lettland, Liechtenstein, Litauen, Luxemburg, Malta, Martinique (Karibik), Niederlande, Norwegen, Österreich, Polen, Portugal (inkl. Azoren und Madeira), Rumänien, Schweden, Schweiz, Slowakische Republik, Slowenien, Spanien (inkl. Kanarische Inseln), Tschechien, Ungarn, Zypern

[peterdoo]

Originally Posted by inquisitor

While picking up an Aldi SIM card for a family member yesterday I thought I should get two additional ones for fellow forum members who might be interested in the new roaming tariffs. So if any loyal forum member needs an Aldi SIM just drop me a PM.

Do you know whether it is necessary to insert the SIM in a phone in Germany so that it has access to E-Plus network in order for the first activation to work? Or can the package be sent unopened to another country and activated without the access to E-Plus network?