UK-based Truphone has taken mobile roaming to a further step by extending its international SIM-card service coverage to 58 new countries across the globe.
The expansion builds on its initial core service zone of eight countries to include key business hubs in Asia (such as China, Singapore and Japan), Europe, North America, South America, and Oceania.
Customers traveling across these 66 countries - which cover 70% of business travel routes of the world - can now talk, SMS, surf the web and download files through their smartphones with a flat-rate plan without worrying about the roaming and data charges.
Truphone currently sells bundles of monthly minutes and data at prices ranging from HK$350 ($45) per month (300 minutes of voice, 300 SMS and 300MB data) to as much as HK$$4,000/month (5,000 minutes, 5,000 SMS and 1GB data).
At the core of Truphone’s service is its patented technology that allows customers to have up to eight international mobile numbers on a single SIM card. This enables their contacts to reach them on a local number and at local rates. The eight countries whose mobile numbers can be included on a single SIM card are Australia, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Spain, UK and US, which the company called Truphone Zone.
“For Hong Kong business people who travel frequently to neighboring countries such as China, Singapore and Japan, it’s hard to believe that simply hopping over the border can significantly impact the way they use their smartphone. The launch of Truphone World makes this worry a thing of the past,” said Alex Ip, Truphone’s senior vice president for Asia Pacific.
In respond to the increasing need of international data usage from customers, the company is also launching a number of substantially bigger and more competitive bundles, including shared data plans with up to half a terabyte of data a month.
“A lot of incumbents [in Hong Kong] are charging over HK$100 per megabyte for international data roaming. With Truphone World, you basically just need to pay less than HK$1 per MB,” Ip added.
Truphone launched its service in Hong Kong last year targeting mainly enterprises with global footprint. Ip declined to disclose the customer numbers but said their customers include five of the world’s eight largest banks, FTSE 100 companies, as well as major brands such as Harley Davidson.