Up Front
Free Incoming Calls for MobilePhone Users
Cable and Wireless' TimAdam and Donna Bush at their recent press conference
Tired of those costly mobile phone bills?How would you like to cut them in half? That's a possibility whenCable and Wireless, Cayman's exclusive provider of telecommunicationsnew mobile rate change automatically takes effect on 9 July, 2001.
The Company recently announced a revised fee structure entitled:'Calling Party Pays' (CPP). That means that you no longer payfor any in-coming calls on your mobile phone while in the CaymanIslands. Incoming calls are not free when roaming, that is whenusing your mobile off island. Roaming customers will pay the standardairtime rates for incoming and outgoing calls.
Why the sudden change? Customer demand,said Mr. Timothy Adam, General Manager for Cable and Wirelessat a recent press conference.
'Calling Party Pays' is the predominantfee structure for most mobile phone systems from Hong Kong toEurope and in many Caribbean territories. And Cable and Wirelessis pleased to finally offer CPP to Cayman.
"With CPP, mobile customers will beable to take all calls," said Tim, "they can leave theirmobile phones on 24-hours a day, without worrying about payingfor all those incoming calls."
For people who pre-pay for their mobile phones, the established65-cent a minute rate will apply only to outgoing calls, as forpost-paid customers, incoming calls are free. You can purchasea pre-paid card for as little as $25 dollars and it's valid for90 days. Prepaid cards set a ceiling on dollars spent for mobilephones and are great for those who want to limit overall costs.But you do pay nearly three times as much for calls made.
Because CPP makes owning a mobile phonemore affordable, Cable and Wireless hopes that more people inCayman will be able to enjoy the benefits and convenience of havinga mobile phone.
Fixed line callers pay more to reach mobilephones
Tempering this exciting announcement is the reality that fixedline users will pay more when calling mobiles, three times moreto be exact. The charge to call a mobile phone from your fixedline phone will be 28-cents per minute up from the current 9-centper minute charge. It will appear as a line item on your statemententitled, 'Mobile Direct Dialed Calls'.
In the Cayman Islands, mobile phone numbersstart with 916, 917, and 926. Once the CPP initiative is implemented,Cable and Wireless will occasionally air a recording to remindyou that you have dialed a mobile number and therefore will bebilled 28-cents per minute. If you would like to control callsto mobile numbers, you can request Call Barring on your telephone.
The Calling Party Pays fee also applieswhen a mobile phone calls another mobile phone, that fee is also28-cents per minute.
What do you have to do to get 'Calling PartyPays' on your mobile phone. Nothing. CPP will automatically takeeffect on 9 July.