This Startup Will Deliver An Overseas SIM Card To You Before You Leave The Country
Say goodbye to crazy roaming charges.
By John Lim — 19 Jan 2016, 05:45 PM
One of the least enjoyable aspects about travelling is finding connectivity - especially when you urgently need to make a call but you don't want to be at the mercy of ridiculously high roaming charges
Let's not forget the hours of hunting down locations with free and stable Wi-Fi connection.
Your only bet would be to find retailers that sell local SIM cards, but that can also be difficult if you do not speak the native tongue in that country
With this problem in mind, an upcoming startup called Hello Roaming wants you to use cheaper mobile connectivity abroad - by sending out relevant SIM cards to you before travelling
With Hello Roaming, you can easily and quickly find a travel destination SIM Card that matches your budget, surfing needs, and length of travel, and have it delivered to your doorstep prior to your departure.
The idea for Hello Roaming came when one of the founders realised many Malaysians aren't using their smartphones while travelling - due to high roaming charges
“There are about more than 1 million Malaysians out there every month who aren’t using their smartphones as they normally would in fear of bill shocks later on when they return home. They are called silent roamers, 80% of this pool of people fall within our target market,” Serene Gan, the Co-founder of Hello Roaming said.
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To purchase a SIM card, you would need to sign up for an account with personal details including your phone number
Once you've created an account, a 3-step order sheet will pop up
Simply pick your destination, duration of stay and the type of SIM card for your phone. We personally love how clear and straightforward the steps are, also accompanied visuals for each type of SIM card - certainly makes it easier for buyers who can't identify their SIM cards through the terms.
From the search, Hello Roaming will show you all the results, including different data sizes to different telcos for you to choose from
The startup would also recommend the best SIM card for you, with a thumbs up icon next to it.
A drop-down tab shows the name and a short write-up of each SIM card. Very neat.
Proceed to check out and a new SIM card will be delivered to you within 3 days!
Aside from the price of the SIM card, Hello Roaming charges a flat rate of RM5 and RM6 for service and delivery fee respectively. Do note that payment can only be done through PayPal.
While the startup currently only provides SIM cards for five countries only, it is planning to expand aggressively this year with a top-up feature in the works
Come the first quarter of 2016, Hello Roaming will expand to another six countries — but that will require partnerships with local telcos to build inventory.
“We’re looking to add 12 more countries in the next six months for 2016. Our focus right now is our beta launch, do as much testing and market validation as possible. We’re looking into options for travellers to pick up the SIM cards at the airport or have the cards delivered to hotels or their Airbnb,” says Serene Gan.
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The team at Hello Roaming is even considering building a top-up feature on their platform for those with an existing SIM card. This value added feature will allow users with existing SIM cards to simply reload their credit rather than purchasing a new pack.
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