O2 and Telefonica announce roaming cuts
O2 and Telefonica Moviles, the two mobile arms of Telefonica, on Thursday announced their latest roaming charge tariffs.
Timed to arrive less than 24 hours before the EC accepts final consultations on roaming this Friday, the new tariffs, dubbed ‘My Europe’ include a 35p per minute pan-EU flat rate for UK customers. There is also what the pair claim is the “first-ever” package to remove charges when receiving calls abroad.
O2 and Telefonica said in a statement that they plan “to abolish charges for receiving calls when abroad” for customers on a new ‘high roamer’ service, one of two offerings under My Europe.
The second tariff, aimed at European holidaymakers, will give all O2 and Telefonica customers simplified, reduced flat-rate voice roaming rates across the EU regardless of the mobile network used, the companies said.
Peter Erskine, chairman and chief executive officer of O2, said: “Today’s announcement underlines our promise that the deal with Telefonica would rapidly bring real benefits to customers. We have designed the service to make it as easy as possible for customers to understand by not penalising users who roam onto other networks, by offering the same in-country call rates across Europe and, for high roamers, scrapping the charge levied by all operators in the past for receiving calls when abroad.”
The free opt-in service will be marked by a large summer marketing campaign, backed by a Euro8m plus advertising push. It will be available from 18 June 2006 for Movistar customers in Spain and from July 1 for O2 customers.
All O2 customers in the UK who opt in to the service will pay 35p per minute for calls anywhere within the EU. Previously, post-pay subscribers would have been charged between 58p and 85p per minute, while pre-pay subscribers would have paid between 69p and £1.49.
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Tags: Movistar, O2, Telefonica Moviles