Enjoy much lower roaming rates while in Europe through EuroBuzz

Roaming rates are a reason for worry for most travelers across the world.
Telecom operators in India charge roaming rates when a customer steps out of
their state. While the rates have drastically come down in recent years amidst a
battleground of competition between operators, here's an American solution that
is garnering rave reviews from travelers across Europe. EuroBuzz was launched in
conjunction with Vodafone and O2.

All European countries have their own network providers with differing call
rates, which can be expensive, especially if calling outside of the European
Union. EuroBuzz is an innovative service that provides the means to utilize a
cell phone within Europe, at the same flat rate for all calls. It also offers
excellent connectivity and coverage.

The premise is simple, the service provides a handset, SIM card and
accessories all for a low-cost, which can be utilized when traveling to Europe,
to make calls to anywhere in the world including the US at only 79c (Rs 36) per
minute. The service provides a single telephone number that works around the
whole of Europe and ensures there are no other charges other than the flat rate
calls that have been made. In addition, there is the benefit of no minimum usage
requirement as well as a direct dialling system and an automatic cell phone
signal locator, to ensure the strongest cell phone signal is guaranteed within
the current location of the user.

Source: http://www.wecsabdn.co.uk

The $49 (Rs 2,291) package includes a Motorola C118 handset, EuroBuzz SIM
card as well as a multi-voltage charger and international travel adapter pack.
In addition, the European cell phone service comes with free 24x7 customer
support and online account facilities as well as a full sixty day money back
guarantee.

In June 2007, the European Commission (EC) introduced a regulation placing
caps on prices of cross border mobile calls in Europe, the so-called 'roaming
regulation'. Vodafone, Telefónica, Orange, and T-Mobile originally filed a
lawsuit at the UK High Court in September 2007, claiming that the EC's roaming
regulation was not only too harsh but also did not have a legal basis.

In a recent move, the court decided that the EC's roaming regulation was
legally sound, fair for protecting consumers and did not infringe the
sovereignty of member states, because roaming is a cross border phenomenon that
needed a common response. The EC's ruling also sets the scene for an EU
clampdown on the costs of mobile phone usage, including calls, downloads and
texts. EC is studying new measures to bring down the price of cross border
calls, including the possibility of introducing ceilings on data roaming. The
Commission also aims to eliminate price differences between national calls and
roaming calls by 2015. Hence, lowering of roaming bills is definitely on EC's
agenda. Until then, EuroBuzz can become the perfect solution.

Vodafone India currently charges Rs 165 per minute to make calls to India on
international roaming from the US, which is a great deal more than the Rs 36 per
minute EuroBuzz service. To beat the rising roaming costs, Indian travelers to
any particular country are availing the services of Matrix Cellular, which
provides a country specific SIM card and calls at low prices for both incoming
and outgoing calls from that particular country. While the service is suited for
professionals or travelers of one particular country, families wishing to take a
European holiday will find themselves battling with international roaming bills
as they crisscross many countries. They will be looking for a region-specific
solution, which EuroBuzz offers.

Madhura Mukherjee

madhurak@cybermedia.co.in