General22.05.2013

execMobile offers global first data roaming solution

execMobile now offers mobile executives convenient, cost effective mobile data roaming as a post-paid service, reducing the cost of data connectivity by as much as 98% when travelling outside South Africa. Total cost control is delivered over a real time global mobile platform to completely eliminate data roaming “bill shock”.

Craig Lowe, execMobile founder, says the solutions are targeted at executives who have to travel overseas regularly and need solutions which are both convenient and reduce the average international data cost of around R100 per MB.

execMobile offers corporates the options of “arrive connected” convenience in 74 countries or a data bundle service which offers greater coverage in 128 countries at even better rates. All services are billed at month end with no fixed monthly costs.

The international data market is a $45 billion dollar industry and 67 percent of the market is made up by corporate employees who travel overseas and need to be connected from wherever they are. Around 5.2 million people travel out of South Africa every year, of which 505 000 are business travelers, where time and convenience are extremely important, says Lowe.

The international per MB price of data is so high because the foreign mobile network determines around 80 percent of the cost for users wanting to roam onto their network. Lowe says the reason execMobile is able to offer such a markedly lower price is due to the various partners they are working with who have negotiated near local rates in various countries. execMobile has built a management platform to control roaming subscribers and offer them cost reduction, control and above all convenience.

“Local data costs will always be cheaper, but that requires buying a SIM card in that country or using WiFi where available. The SIM might require a RICA-equivalent process and will require the user to forfeit their mobile number and modify their device settings. For leisure travelers this is generally not a problem as they have the time to do this. However for an executive who has time constraints, needs secure Internet access on multiple devices (laptop, smartphone, tablet) and may travel to multiple countries (multiple SIMs required), this becomes problematic,” he says.

execMobile’s PocketWifi offers their Global or Giga SIM which is placed into a wireless router to allow up to five devices to be connected to it at one time, eliminating these obstacles and offering convenience and savings.

Lowe says this is particularly important for BlackBerry users as BIS and BES services may not be available with the foreign SIM. However, by connecting the BlackBerry wirelessly to the PocketWifi, all BlackBerry services will continue to work, which is important given that 80 percent of South African corporate run BlackBerry services.

The wireless router is also an important security feature for corporate as their employees don’t have to use Wi-Fi networks in public places and the user has to use a secure password to access the router.

execMobile’s solutions have no monthly contract fees and users are simply billed for any data or data bundles consumed in the period. “Users are only sent a bill for the month in which they use the data card, making it the easiest way to stay connected when travelling overseas,” he says.

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