Mobile alliance set to launch Asia’s first pay-per-day data roaming flat rate plan

Conexus Mobile Alliance, one of the largest mobile alliances in Asia with a combined customer base of around 160 million mobile subscribers, has announced the launch of Asia’s first-ever pay-per-day data roaming flat-rate tariff plan.

The alliance said it also unveiled a host of member privileges, aimed at delivering ground-breaking, genuine and tangible benefits to international roamers and realizing the group’s vision of offering the highest level of customer satisfaction in mobile services to corporate and consumer markets.

Since the alliance’s establishment in April 2006, the seven member operators, which include Smart Communications in the Philippines, Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. Taiwan, Hutchison Telecommunications in Hong Kong, PT Indosat Tbk in Indonesia, NTT DoCoMo in Japan, and StarHub Ltd. in Singapore, have worked to ensure that all members’ customers are able to experience seamless and hassle-free mobile-related services when they roam into members’ networks.

In the first quarter of 2008, the seven member operators will jointly roll out the first pay-per-day data roaming flat rate plan in Asia. Furthermore, an all-you-can-use data roaming daily rate will be offered in some members’ networks, enabling members’ customers traveling across members’ countries or cities to check emails, transmit data or surf on the Internet via their mobile devices while completely doing away with the need to count the data usage.

Subscription is not required in most of the member networks. Members’ customers will be automatically charged based on the data roaming flat rate tariff plan while roaming onto members’ networks.

Chan Kin Hung, chairman of the Alliance’s board and head of StarHub’s Advanced Multimedia Services, said that with the increasing popularity of mobile broadband (HSDPA) roaming in the region, it is important for the Alliance to offer peace of mind to the customers as they use these services while roaming.

“For a typical HSDPA session, the consumption of mobile data can be in the tens of megabytes, so the conventional way of data charging (i.e. per kilobyte usage) may not meet customers’ needs as it will be costly. This move demonstrates our commitment in offering customers cost-effective data roaming charges while roaming onto all member networks,” he said.

Chan added: “As this plan operates on a per-day basis, it gives members’ customers greater flexibility in how they manage their mobile bills, enabling travelers staying overseas to determine their mobile expenditure depending on the number of days they use these roaming services. It is a more customer-friendly way of data charging.”

“When the pay-per-day data roaming flat rate plan is launched in the first quarter of 2008, our subscribers will be able to enjoy the convenience of mobile broadband roaming with an affordable and predictable pay-per-day flat rate in roaming. We believe that this will lead the industry in driving the usage of mobile data while roaming,” he emphasized.

At the Mobile Asia Congress in Macau, Conexus Mobile Alliance also introduced two member privileges, including SIM card replacement and travelling connect. With service centers for SIM card replacement set up in members’ countries and cities, corporate users with company registered mobile lines of alliance members will be able to get a new and activated SIM card if they lose their original ones in members’ places.