Mobile Roaming Services
VIVE IBT Program for Inbound Travelers
Inbound travelers coming into a foreign country to travel face common difficulties in making mobile telephone calls with their personal mobile handset described as follows:
1. The mobile handset cannot register with the mobile network operators (MNOs) in the country of travel; this is often due to the fact that his/her mobile handset does not work with the GSM frequencies used by the local MNOs or it could be because his/her home country MNO, to whose service his/her mobile handset subscribes, does not have mobile roaming partner in the country of travel.
2. The home country MNO requires a deposit of a certain credit amount that must be arranged with the mobile operator by the traveler well in advance of the intended/planned travel abroad. Otherwise, he/she cannot have mobile roaming service to make telephone calls when roaming outside the home country.
3. The rates charged by the home country MNO on calls made while roaming are very expensive.
All the above-stated problems are eliminated when one uses the service of the VIVE IBT Program.
VIVE IBT Program is a service offered through the hotel where the traveler stays as guest during his/her stay in the country. It enables the traveler to use facility of making and receiving calls to/from any telephone number at low call rates (costs) that represent great savings (55%-85%) compared to the rates charged by the home country mobile operator.
At the time of checking in at the registration desk of the hotel, the guest is offered a Courtesy Phone for use which is a specially-equipped mobile handset and is advised to go on line to purchase credit amount for use with the Courtesy Phone so that there is sufficient credit amount to cover the cost of usage when making or receiving telephone calls. The hotel personnel at the registration desk or the concierge may help the guest to purchase the required credit amount on line.
There is no charge for the Courtesy Phone but the guest has to make a security deposit for the phone (US$75-US$100); the security deposit is returned to the guest when the Courtesy Phone is returned to the hotel by the guest at the end of his/her stay. The guest just pays for the cost of usage that is incurred when making telephone calls.
Thus, the guest gets to enjoy a good reliable mobile phone service at call rates that are very affordable.