"Roam like Home", a new roaming service from MTN offering lower, standard rates to customers travelling in the 21 countries it has presence, has today been introduced for prepaid and contract customers.
With Roam like Home, MTN customers will pay a standard rate of R2.50 when making local calls in a foreign designation, while SMSes will cost 75c per message, data R2 per MB and calls received from home will be charged at R2.50. Calls back home or to other international destinations will be charged at R5 per minute. There are no opt-in fees applicable.
MTN says the service applies to any mobile device on the MTN network. "Smartphone, tablet, and laptop users can [use Roam like Home].
"Customers just need to ensure they are roaming on the MTN network when in a country that has an MTN presence, otherwise normal roaming rates will apply. In addition, local data bundles will not be depleted while roaming."
Bill shock
Chief marketing officer of MTN SA Brian Gouldie says the product was designed with the problem of bill shock in mind. "One of the biggest concerns people have when travelling abroad is how much they will have to pay for phone calls, SMSes, and accessing the Internet while roaming."
He says the phenomenon of bill shock has "severely impacted" how people stay in touch.
In October, the Independent Communications Authority of SA said it had received "floods" of complaints from cellphone users who had been receiving disproportionately large bills.
While many blame the problem on wrongful billing on the part of their mobile service provider, operators say it is often a case of a lack of understanding around the mobile functions that guzzle money.
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