On June 15th this year, rules from the European Parliament and Council EU regulation came into effect, in accordance with which roaming service rates have been reduced. Due to the fact that the introduced modifications have generated a lot of emotions, we asked our CEO – Magdalena Piksa for a few words of comment.
➡ Under what rules can Vikings use roaming in European Union countries?
That's a well-asked question. First and foremost, Vikings can use roaming. It's worth remembering that the division into No Limit and Standard top-ups, along with their accompanying top-up bonuses, still applies and these bonuses are valid only in Poland (internet package, unlimited calls within the network, to mobile and landline numbers, and unlimited SMS/MMS, valid for 31 days from the last top-up).
When going abroad, you should therefore have funds in your account. These will be valid for the standard 365 days, and the packages received after top-up will be valid in Poland for 31 days as before. In roaming, we will pay new, much lower rates.
Among the changes, one can mention the rate for incoming calls of PLN 0/min, which until now was 5 gr/min. We have decided to cover the cost of this type of call. This means that even if there are no funds in your account, a Viking will be able to receive an incoming call.
Rates for other services will also be reduced and will be aligned with maximum wholesale rates, i.e. – for outgoing calls PLN 16/min, for SMS PLN 5 gr, for MMS PLN 5 gr, for data transmission PLN 4 gr/Mb.
➡ So it seems that nothing has changed. Except that now Vikings can receive calls for free, even in the No Limit offer!
It has changed, but for the better. 😉 Vikings can receive calls for free and use roaming at any time, and upon returning to Poland, they still have the option to use attractive domestic offers.
➡ And what about the announced bonus packages?
Indeed, on May 15th this year, we announced annual free packages (so-called FUP), i.e., 220 minutes of received calls in the EU and 960 MB. These packages were a proposal for approaching RLAH, consulted with UKE, because a literal approach to roaming turned out to be very costly for most operators, and virtually unattainable for MVNOs. However, what happened after May 15th, i.e., the launch of Orange's offers, prompted UKE to change its position and not accept FUPs in the proposed form. Therefore, after UKE announced the maximum wholesale rates, we presented a modified approach to using roaming services at Mobile Vikings.
It's worth adding that the rates set by the EC, compared to Polish domestic prices, are still very high and several times exceed the price of a full top-up in Poland. In European Union countries, unlimited tariffs cost around EUR 30 (for example – Luxembourg EUR 42, Germany EUR 29.99, Slovakia EUR 20), while in our offer, unlimited calls cost PLN 29. Due to such price differences, MVNOs in Poland are in a difficult situation, as it is impossible for the costs incurred by the operator to be recouped.
The portal Spidersweb and Rzeczpospolita wrote more extensively about the whole situation.
➡ And finally, a question about the thing that interests Vikings the most, i.e., the internet. How will this look abroad?
The principle of using the internet abroad is simple. Just top up your account with zlotys, and for every megabyte used, you pay 4 groszes. In this situation, there is no data limit, no packages, and no increased costs. The only difference is the absence of the so-called "funnel" domestically and in roaming, meaning that if there are no funds in your account, a Viking will not be able to use the internet for PLN 0 at a speed of 32 kb/s (due to the new regulations, we had to price domestic data transmission).
The issue of roaming remains an open question, we remain in contact with the Office of Electronic Communications, which oversees the implementation of "Roam like at home". We are considering introducing new roaming tariffs or packages and we are observing the development of the situation and users' roaming needs.
For three years, we have been diligently fighting for the best possible domestic offer for Vikings, which is why on the eve of the introduction of new regulations, we asked ourselves a question – who is a satisfied user of our network? Is it people who spend a lot of time roaming and would like to use these services as if they were in Poland, or people who want to use attractive offers in the country 90% of the time and pay much lower rates when traveling abroad? We spent a long time considering the effects that introducing unlimited roaming services could have on our network, and the conclusions we drew are unambiguous.
Given the model in which we operate, i.e., MVNO and pay-as-you-go offers without commitments, extending the "Roam like at home" principle to all services, including unlimited ones, would be too great a risk for us. Such a situation could result in price increases domestically or the end of unlimited packages, and that's not the point. Therefore, we have decided to introduce low roaming charges, which will only allow us to cover the costs we will incur towards foreign operators. We do not want to include roaming costs in other services. One goal guides our actions – we want to continue creating offers without catches and hidden asterisks, and, as befits Vikings, maintain simple and clear rules. After all, #EverythingForOurOwn!
For the impatient, we can reveal that we will soon prepare a surprise for fans of large internet packages.
Thank you for the interview. We wish you a great holiday!
