Control your roaming costs

Cellular roaming charges can cost a pretty fortune. However, Chris Scoble from Nashua mobile believes that there are numerous actions travellers can take to avoid receiving a shock and a bill from their cellular provider when they return back to South Africa.

South Africans travelling abroad with their cellular phones and data cards must equip themselves with information about voice and data roaming costs at their destinations and monitor their usage of these services carefully while travelling.

This is according to Nashua Mobile managing director, Chris Scoble. He says that consumers should research roaming costs on their operator’s website and then keep careful track of how much time they spend speaking on the phone and how much data they consume while travelling internationally since carelessness could easily add thousands of unexpected Rands to the bill for the time they are abroad.

Scoble says that customers should be especially careful about data roaming costs since simply downloading a large email with an attachment could cost them hundreds of Rands.

Scoble offers the following advice to customers wanting to avoid a nasty roaming bill:

MTN roaming offers a great rate for those who travel around the continent. If you frequently travel within Africa you can make calls using your MTN cellphone from R5 a minute in any African country. If you prefer to just send SMS messages, this is even more affordable at only R2 per SMS. Find out more: http://www.mtn.co.za/Travel/TravellingFromSA/Pages/default.aspx

If you’re a Vodacom subscriber, you benefit from a flat data roaming fee (on participating networks) at R17.50/MB thanks to Vodacom’s alliance with Vodafone. Choose from the different international roaming options, which are easy to use and provide you with worldwide coverage. Make and receive calls, send SMS messages or access the Internet conveniently, while you travel internationally and know what to expect on your bill. Find out more by visiting http://www.vodacom.co.za/services/travel/overview.jsp

Cell C now has: 395 roaming partners in 166 countries around the world and is also offering its subscribers access to four Maritime Services and one satellite network. Find out more by visiting http://www.cellc.co.za/content/services/internationalroaming.asp

Remember that selected Nashua Mobile outlets are now stocking WorldSIM, an international prepaid mobile phone solution that is perfect for customers planning to travel with their cellphones. There are no activation fees or procedures, you can use the solution immediately. With WorldSIM you can make cost effective phone calls in more than 150 countries around the world as well as receive calls for free in more than 60 countries. The solution offers tighter control on your roaming spend as it is prepaid so it enables you to spend what you can afford.

You can save more than 95% on call charges when travelling abroad. Calling rates for landline or mobile numbers are priced as low as USD 0.50 cents (about R3.40) per minute in some countries. SMS tariffs are just as competitive.

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