New Go Mobile tariffs - 'we've arrived'

GO Mobile on Friday launched an entire suite of new tariff plans that are intended to bring home PC-type broadband speeds to your laptop, PDA or mobile phone, wherever you are in Malta and Gozo, including on your boat out at sea. The new tariffs include three very flexible wireless e-mail and Internet packages as well as a bundle that's tailor-made for the business community and which offers both voice and data services.

In addition, Go Mobile announced new tariffs for roaming in other European Union countries for both pre-paid and post-paid customers, including data customers, making it the first local mobile telephony operator to implement the ruling handed down by the EU last month.

"We are truly excited about these developments," Peter Gauci, director of Go Mobile, told The Sunday Times last week when I visited Go Mobile's head office in Marsa for an in-depth briefing and demonstration by the senior management team ahead of Friday's launch.

"We've arrived," he enthused. "This is as good as it gets. For the first time we are tying data - receiving and sending e-mail, plus browsing the Internet - with mobility at speeds we were previously accustomed to obtain from a wall-mounted socket to deliver broadband quality of up to 1.8 Mb per second."

Surveys, he added, had indicated to Go Mobile that customers are prepared to pay up to three times more than the new tariff plans announced. "Our feeling is that if this does not make data mobility happen, nothing will."

Go Mobile is delivering this level of service through a network of 60 base stations spread around the islands. Between now and the end of September a further 46 base stations are planned to further enhance indoor coverage. Even if 3.5G (HSPDA) is not available, the system seamlessly switches to Edge-based reception, which is still a step ahead of the very slow, old 2.5G technology.

If you are working on a fully-charged laptop, PDA or mobile phone, this service is not power dependent (you will be able to continue working even during a power cut) since all base stations are hooked to back-up generators, and the switch at Marsa is backed up with a battery supply that is also linked to a generator.

According to Michael Balzan, senior executive, Customer Care and International Roaming: "We are up there with the best of the best. A considerable number of networks, even well-established ones in Europe, have yet to launch 3G, let alone deploy a nationwide 3.5G (HSDPA) as Go Mobile has done."

Go Mobile has slashed prices for e-mail and Internet on the move drastically and come up with a number of packages, apart from a straightforward, pay-per-use tariff that was previously available.

The monthly packages are Lite, Value, Ultra and Unlimited, with a free connect card thrown in if you take a two-year contract for the Unlimited package and a Lm70 discount on a Lm120 connect card if you take a two-year contract for the Ultra package.

The Unlimited package costs Lm19.32 per month for a 5 Gb bundle (or less than 0c3 per Mb), with a rate of 1c7 per Mb over and above the bundle, charged in 256 Kb chunks. The Ultra package costs Lm12.88 per month for a 2 Gb bundle (or less than 0c6 per Mb), and a similar charge of 1c7 per Mb over and above the bundle, charged in 256 Kb chunks.

The Value package costs Lm6.44 per month for a 500 Mb bundle (or less 1c3 per Mb) and the same charge of 1c7 per Mb over and above the bundle, charged in 256 Kb chunks; and the Lite costs Lm2.50 per month for a 30 Mb bundle (or less than 8c per Mb), with the pay-per-use rate of 3c per 60 Kb over and above the bundle.

Go Mobile also announced a Voice plus e-mail and Internet package for clients with a PDA integrating voice and data, which consists of the Business Unplugged package with the Business Go package added on for Lm20.22 per month.

This includes 140 free voice minutes and 500 Mb of data. Voice rates over and above the bundle are charged at 10c per minute; text messages cost 2c each; and data rates over and above the bundle are at 1c7 per Mb, charged in 256 Kb chunks.

Mr Gauci pointed out that Go Mobile is the first local mobile provider to adopt the EU roaming tariffs commonly referred to as the "Euro Tariff" - as from tomorrow, although it was not obliged to do so before the end of August. "Our obligation was to implement the tariffs from July 30 and make them applicable from August 30, but we are offering it to our customers as from tomorrow," he said.

Mr Balzan explained that outgoing calls to Malta from any EU country, outgoing calls within the EU country visited and outgoing calls while roaming within any EU country to any other EU country would be charged at 25c per minute. Incoming calls while roaming would be charged at 12c per minute. "This is 70 per cent cheaper than existing rates," he said, "and amounts to a major saving to our customers. These rates apply while roaming on all mobile networks in any of the other 26 EU member states."

There will be a large emphasis on transparency in the new EU roaming tariffs, with travellers being informed via push text message of the cost of calls - although this will be implemented by September 30.

Data roaming tariffs are being slashed by a third on selected networks in selected countries. Charges start from as low as Lm1 per Mb in 100 Kb chunks plus a 50c set-up charge.