A1 Telekom Austria has launched a mobile data roaming service called abroadband for all mobile customers in the European Union plus Switzerland and Liechtenstein. In the near future, abroadband will also be sold in more than 50 countries around the world, including countries outside Europe, as well as in selected partner stores at airports, on airplanes and at travel expos. The service offers a mobile data roaming fee of EUR 0.59 per MB in more than 50 countries around the world including all of Europe, North America, Australia and Russia. An abroadband Sim or micro Sim costs EUR 19.90 and customers can also purchase a Huawei E173 USB modem for EUR 49.90. Abroadband charges per 125 KB and offers a cost control limit of EUR 60 per month. When the limit is reached, abroadband sends a SMS to the user if he/she wants to continue using mobile data or be disconnected until a new month begins. The service can be ordered via abroadband.com and payments are done via credit card or Paypal. Following an order, abroadband will send the Sim and/or USB modem via DHL.
A1 Telekom Austria supports the launch of abroadband with a survey by Gfk Austria and Telekom Austria Group’s marketing intelligence unit among 500 internet users in Austria, Germany and UK respectively and focused on the internet usage patterns of people when travelling abroad. The survey found that 57 percent of Austrians travel abroad, followed by the UK with 47 percent and Germany with 41 percent. Austrians also travel the most with 70 percent of Austrians traveling abroad several times a year, compared to only 55 percent of Brits. Roughly 75 percent of the survey participants take their laptop with them when travelling abroad, and those who do not have a laptop go to an internet cafe. Austrian, German and British travelers all agree on the importance of having internet access at home, with more than 75 percent travelers stating that internet access is extremely important. Furthermore, all survey participants stated that the relevance of the internet has considerably increased over the past three years, and is becoming increasingly crucial. Internet access while abroad is key for 81 percent of European business travelers (from Austria, Germany and UK) and for 50 percent of leisure travelers. Other findings include that e-mail is the most used internet application abroad with around 85 percent, followed by internet searches with 75 percent and 30 percent for social networks. The majority of survey respondents in Austria, Germany and Britain admitted to having been surprised by high roaming costs after travelling abroad. An average of 82 percent across the three markets feel that society is becoming ever more mobile, and that this will speed up the pace of communication and require people to learn to be more flexible. It is therefore no surprise that 57 percent of Austrian travelers, 67 percent of German travelers and 54 percent of Brits felt that mobile internet data tariffs should reflect this development and become cheaper.
