Global business travellers can save millions in data roaming charges according to Travelwin, a leading travel tech company operating in this space.

Killian Whelan is CEO of Travelwin, an Irish owned and run company dedicated to identifying key pain points for consumer and business travellers globally. “Our recent research into the business travel sector shows that they are still being forced to pay significantly over the odds for roaming data. While we acknowledge that consumers are now enjoying some improved data packages in Europe, largely on foot of the recent “Roam Like Home” legislation that came into effect; outside of Europe, there has been no discernible improvement for business travellers – and we believe we can save them millions,” explained Killian.

According to Travelwin, business travellers going to places like Asia, Africa, Australia and South America are paying thousands for access to reliable and secure data, anywhere between £400 to £5,200 * per GB of roaming data, depending on their contract. Having identified this issue Travelwin invested in its own R&D and partnered with a Chinese company, collectively creating “Uni-Fi Global”; a ‘hot spot’ device that offers secure data connectivity globally at local rates. For example, typically 1 GB costs just £20.

Travelwin’s Uni-Fi Global is a cloud based roaming device offering 4G** data coverage at local rates in 100 countries globally. It is a secure platform (global standard encryption) which uses cloud based SIM technology and allows up to five devices to be used at once. From a corporate perspective, there are different payment options available with the most popular being the Data Bundle option with rates as outlined above.

“The costs that businesses are being forced to pay are staggering but with Uni-Fi Global the most substantial cost savings are delivered outside Europe and North America. From a business planning perspective, we think there’s a huge opportunity for companies to eradicate unnecessary roaming costs”, says Killian.

According to Travelwin, a typical international professional services firm with up to 100 employees travelling regularly using an average of 6 GB per month, can expect to save approximately £1 million annually. Killian continues, “Another example of companies we are dealing with are global engineering firms whose employees travel to the Middle and Far East regularly. Depending on volumes and usage, the cost savings could be anywhere from £2 million to £8 million annually. The Uni-Fi device is compelling based on cost but essential for security as these firms cannot rely on public Wi-Fi.

There is now a realisation amongst some global telecommunication companies that voice and text services are dying out in favour of just data. Certainly, from our research we would agree with this scenario which further supports our business case for developing a data only business product such as Uni-fi Global”, concluded Killian.