White-label mobile saves on roaming charges

International mobile operator AwayPhone has launched an enhanced global SIM product for distribution partners and resellers that want to launch their own low-cost international mobile service.

The AwayPhone service is designed to act a person's primary mobile phone when they leave their home country. Routing calls via a combination of mobile and carrier-grade IP networks, the service enables customers to save up to 90 per cent on international roaming charges, the company claims.

For resellers, AwayPhone delivers a complete service with access to a web-based back end and full reseller support services.

The new SIM is an enhancement of AwayPhone's existing features but more reliable and with features that make it easy for resellers to deploy rapidly. The new SIM will be phased in from October and replaces AwayPhone's previous core product.

The service is offered as white-label or AwayPhone-branded. A key element to the enhancement is more resellers in Europe and North America.

"AwayPhone offers features that mainstream operators ignore," explains Sherry Madera, chief executive of AwayPhone. "Those who wish to launch low-cost international mobile products can repackage our SIM and offer subscribers local numbers in countries they visit, a boon for people who need to be seen as local, or who don't want callers to be put off by having to dial a foreign phone number."

Other advantages include flexible routing of calls from existing landline and mobile numbers, meaning users don't miss vital calls, never have to deal with multiple voicemails and need not grapple with foreign language message services. Even after a trip is completed, calls to the AwayPhone foreign numbers will route home to the subscriber's regular mobile phone.

Madera says the new service is part of AwayPhone's ongoing strategy to build a network of distribution and sales partners that wish to profit from the potential market for low-cost international roaming services.