Three saves customers £1.3bn in roaming charges
Three,
the network that gives people the freedom to use their phones abroad at
no extra cost [in 18 destinations], has today (August 25, 2015)
announced it has saved customers more than £1.3 billion in roaming
charges since launching its Feel at Home service two years ago.
The service was introduced to protect customers from unfairly high
roaming charges. Since its launch, Three has saved customers £330 on
average every year allowing customers to make the most of their
holidays. The average Three customer now uses 500MB of data on each
overseas trip.
Three took a stand against roaming charges not just in Europe, but also
in key destinations outside of Europe, by launching Feel at Home in
2013. Currently Three customers can use their phones and tablets abroad
at no extra cost in 18 destinations.
This now includes Spain and France the two most popular holiday
destinations for Brits, with 12 million* UK visitors to Spain and 8
million to France predicted in 2015.
It is no surprise that the Feel at Home service has proved extremely
popular since its launch, and is still gaining momentum, with two
million Brits using their phone abroad at no extra cost on Three in the
last two years. In June alone, 538,000 people benefitted from the
service, and it’s set to continue as more people head off on holiday
this August and September.
Lianne Norry, director of brand & comms at Three, said: “Three was
the first UK network to allow customers to use their phones abroad at no
extra cost, to banish bill-shock and improve peoples’ holiday
experiences. We continue to lead the way in making roaming charges
fairer. The fact that we’ve saved our customers a whopping £1.3 billion
proves the true extent of the great roaming rip-off, people are being
treated unfairly by other networks, so we will continue to make it right
for them with Feel at Home.”
Feel at Home is available in 18 destinations worldwide: Spain, France,
Switzerland, Israel, Finland, Norway, USA, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Macau,
Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Austria, Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark and
Republic of Ireland.
It couldn’t be simpler to use your phone abroad at no extra cost with
Three. As soon as you arrive, your phone automatically activates with
Feel at Home, allowing your phone to pick up a local network so you can
chat to family and text your friends back home, post status updates and
share holiday spam to your heart’s content. If you go out of bundle, you
will still benefit from reduced roaming rates – a no brainer for the
modern traveller.
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors
For further information please contact:
Three Corporate PR team
020 3725 2339
- Feel At Home
Savings statistic is based on the amount of data, voice and texts used in Feel At Home countries in the last two years and how much the use of these services would have cost in total if pre-Feel At Home pricing had been applied.
More than 2 million customers have used Feel At Home since launch in August 2013. Average data usage per customer per month is now 494MB. On average, Three customers have saved £656 in the two years since Feel At Home was introduced compared to pre-Feel At Home rates.
Feel At Home is available in 18 destinations – Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Macau, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
- Network and Data Usage
4.5 million of Three’s customers have used 4G since launch. Average data usage across all of Three’s customers is 4.65GB.
Low frequency 800MHz spectrum will be added to the network from autumn 2015. Voice services will be extended to 4G with the introduction of Voice over LTE (VoLTE or 4G calling) technology in autumn 2015.
- About Three
Three is a communications company. We are focused on challenging the industry to make mobile better for everyone.
We want to give customers a quality mobile experience and address the industry issues that frustrate them.
We were the first UK network to introduce all you can eat data and offer 4G at no extra cost. We let customers roam abroad with their domestic bundle for no extra charge and calling 0800 numbers is free on all our new plans.
We continue to look at ways of improving the experience we offer our customers.
Three carries 42% of the UK’s mobile data. Our 3G network covers 98% of the UK population.
We launched 4G in 2014. By the end of 2015 98% of the population will be able to access 4G through a combination of new sites and deploying new spectrum.
Three UK is a member of CK Hutchison Holdings which also has investments in mobile operations in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Macau, Sri Lanka, Sweden and Vietnam.
Three employs over 4,400 people across its offices in Maidenhead, Glasgow and Reading and its 347 retail stores.
For more information visit www.three.co.uk.
