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O2 and movistar offer free incoming calls when travelling in Europe
Telefónica, through O2 in the UK and movistar in Spain, has today launched a new mobile pricing plan which removes charges when receiving calls abroad. The two companies are the first operators in the world to launch such a service regardless of which network the call is received on.
The new 'high roamer' service, aimed at frequent travellers, is the second initiative to be launched under 'My Europe' - a set of low cost roaming tariffs from O2 and movistar for European customers. It is said to deliver on a commitment made by the two companies to unite Europe's largest markets through simple customer propositions following Telefónica's acquisition of O2 in February 2006.
O2 UK users of the 'high roamer' service pay a monthly fee of £5 to make calls at a reduced rate of 25 pence per minute, a 70% discount over standard rates, as well as receive incoming calls for free whilst travelling in Spain. Small and medium-sized companies can benefit from a discounted monthly fee of £2.50 per month if they take out a 12-month option.
Spain was chosen by O2 UK as the launch market for this new service since more of its customers travel there frequently on business, or on holiday, than any other country. In the first half of next year, O2 will expand the service to more than 35 countries across Europe as part of its successful range of Bolt-on packages. Call charges will be the same as the high roamer service covering Spain.
The My Europe 'high roamer' tariff on movistar in Spain will allow customers to receive roaming calls free of charge when travelling throughout Europe whilst at the same time benefiting from competitively priced calls made from these countries. The 33 destinations where Spanish My Europe customers can benefit from free incoming calls are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guernsey, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the UK, Sweden, Switzerland, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Vatican City.
The offer is available to contract customers for a monthly fee of 10 euros as part of movistar's My Europe programme. To subscribe to the offer customers must have a 128K/64K SIM card, and the subscription fee includes changing the SIM card if necessary.
Peter Erskine, chairman and chief executive officer of O2, said: "The high roamer proposition was rated as the most popular concept when tested on customers, with many indicating that they currently left their phones switched off when travelling in order to avoid the cost of receiving a call. By starting to scrap the charge levied by all operators in the past for receiving calls when abroad, we hope to begin removing that barrier."
The 'high roamer' service has also been introduced by O2 Telefónica Czech Republic and complements the first offering under My Europe, which was launched in the Summer and offers holidaymakers reduced flat-rate voice roaming rates throughout the EU across all networks.
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