Truphone Makes Every Call a Local Call

Truphone Local Anywhere SIM keeps you local, home and abroad

News provided by

Jan 20, 2010, 10:45 ET

LONDON, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Truphone today announced the launch of its Truphone Local Anywhere™ service – a full GSM solution that makes it easier and more convenient for international travellers to stay in touch while saving more than 90 percent on their mobile phone bills. The new global mobile phone service provides consumers with local numbers and access to local rates for calls, texts and data in multiple countries on a single SIM card.

The service launches today for the United States and the U.K., and the company plans to rapidly roll out Truphone Local Anywhere to a number of key business and leisure destinations in 2010, both across Europe and in longer haul destinations such as Australia, Hong Kong and South Africa.

Truphone Local Anywhere offers customers four main benefits:

Local calling rates in Truphone countries: With Truphone Local Anywhere, international travellers enjoy rates that are a fraction of standard roaming fees. For example, AT&T subscribers roaming in the U.K. pay between 99 cents and $1.29 per minute(1), depending on their calling plans, but from only 12 cents per minute with Truphone Local Rates.
Local contact numbers in Truphone countries: Local numbers mean people can call you on your mobile at local rates for them – at no cost to you.
Low-cost international calling: Great rates to make international calls at home or abroad, offering savings of up to 90 percent over standard mobile operator charges.
Low-cost roaming: Great rates when roaming in non-Truphone countries offering savings of up to 40 percent over standard mobile operator charges.

As Truphone Local Anywhere combines low-cost calling and convenience at home and abroad, it provides an all-in-one solution which can replace a standard operator's SIM in an unlocked GSM phone, making it the only phone service you'll ever need.

Truphone Local Anywhere provides a variety of unique features that can offer any user unrivalled benefits. The service is specially aimed at people with international lifestyles, including:

Expatriates and their families: Keep in touch with friends and family by not only making low-cost calls back home, but also allowing them to call you on a local number. U.S. expatriates settled in the UK can save more than 90 percent when they call home for an hour a week, compared to standard mobile operator charges and can enjoy local rates when you travel back home.
Business travellers: Save as much as 90 percent on calls made in and from Truphone countries and act like a local by providing colleagues with a local number to reach you on. Outside Truphone countries, you continue to make savings on normal roaming charges.
International or gap year students: Truphone Local Anywhere frees parents and their international students to focus on paying tuition instead of a phone bill. For example, a U.S. student doing a semester in the U.K. will save at least 90 percent on calls home.
Frequent travellers: Stay local to friends and family at home and abroad with one mobile phone without worrying about expensive phone bills. Take advantage of local call rates to call friends you've made overseas and low-cost calls to those back home
Second home-owners: Feel like a true local in your home away from home by taking advantage of local call rates. For example, when in the U.K. call to book taxis or your favorite restaurant for as little as 20 cents per minute, compared to as much as $2.19 per minute on a standard mobile operator charge. And have both country numbers on your one SIM, so you are always contactable on local numbers.

"Mobile charges are a pain point every time you go abroad, but they needn't be with Truphone Local Anywhere," says Geraldine Wilson, CEO of Truphone. "We aim to keep you local in top travel destinations around the world, starting with the U.S. and U.K., so you can make calls at local rates and your friends, family and colleagues can reach you on a local mobile number. Truphone Local Anywhere is the ultimate phone service for people with international lifestyle - everything you need on just one SIM. It will totally change the way people use their mobiles when they are home or abroad."

Other benefits of Truphone Local Anywhere include:

The ability to manage Caller ID the world over, displaying a local number wherever you are.
Savings of up to 80 percent on roaming charges when visiting other countries
An option, coming soon, to keep your existing phone number by moving it over to the Truphone network.

The launch of Truphone Local Anywhere follows the success of the company's award-winning applications for the iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, Nokia and Android devices. Truphone continues to transform the world of mobile communications with the aim of allowing people to use their phones how and when they want, whether at home or abroad, for voice, text or data, without the fear of the forthcoming bill.

As of today, the SIM is available to British Airways customers and through www.truphone.com. Further retail channels will be announced in the near future and will include other touch points for international travellers: mobile phone stores, foreign exchange, airlines, airport boutiques and online e-tailer affiliates.

About Truphone

Founded in 2006, Truphone is a global mobile communications provider in the business of innovating how people converse in our globally connected world. As the industry's first mobile Internet operator, the company makes it easy and affordable for users all over the world to keep in touch with friends, family and business contacts overseas or whilst roaming.

According to Frost & Sullivan, "Truphone has been able to differentiate its products from those of its competitors due to the immense commitment it has made in research and development and by having strategic partnerships with major industry participants across the mobile ecosystem. As a result, it has successfully enabled the firm to address its customers' needs and expectations, resulting in Truphone being a dominant player in the mVoIP market."

Truphone's heritage in mobile internet telephony, developing apps for Nokia, iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry and Android devices, means that unlike other operators, it has never been restricted by national borders. It believes that its customers should enjoy local rates, rather than inflated roaming rates, anywhere that Truphone has established operations.

Truphone has applied this philosophy to the launch of its new Truphone Local Anywhere™ SIM card which gives international travellers the convenience of a single SIM card to access local rates for calls, text and data, both when they are at home or away.

Truphone is the trading name of Software Cellular Network (SCN) Ltd. SCN is privately owned, funded by both venture capital investment and angel investors.

Truphone Local Anywhere

What it is

Truphone Local Anywhere is a full GSM service that offers the ability to enjoy local rates in Truphone countries and also local mobile phone numbers for those countries on a single SIM.
At launch the service provides mobile phone numbers in the US and the UK
The Truphone Local Anywhere SIM is an alternative solution to a standard operator SIM and is the only mobile phone solution a consumer needs

The benefits

Local calling rates in Truphone countries: with Truphone Local Anywhere, a UK traveller in the US calling home on their mobile pays only 10p/min, vs. 1.50 pounds/min standard mobile operator rate
Local contact numbers in Truphone countries: local numbers mean people can call you on your mobile at local rates for them – at no cost to you
Low-cost international calling: great rates to make international calls at home or abroad, offering savings of up to 50% over standard mobile operator charges
Low-cost roaming: great rates when roaming in non-Truphone countries offering savings of up to 40% over standard mobile operator charges

How to pay

The consumer solution is a pre-pay solution at launch but Truphone will launch a post-pay solution in the near future
The business solution is a post-pay service at launch

Charges in Truphone countries

Customers will be charged local rates for calls
Calls will be call-through
Customers will benefit from low-cost international calling (for list of charges see www.truphone.com)

Roaming charges outside Truphone countries

Customers will benefit from reduced roaming rates when travelling outside of Truphone countries
Customers will be offered the option to make calls using call-back technology when even greater savings are possible
In some countries where camel roaming on the prepaid service, it may not be possible to use the normal call through a GSM service. In countries, users on the prepaid service will be able to use call back technology. This does not apply to post-paid customers.

(1) www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/international-roaming.jsp

SOURCE Truphone