Lebara Mobile, a specialist in low-cost international mobile services, today announced the launch of Lebara Mobile France in partnership with Bouygues Telecom. French consumers can now make 'competitively-priced' national and international calls direct from a mobile phone using Lebara Mobile's Prepaid SIM card.
France is a strong market for international calling, says Lebara, with its large population of migrants, ex-patriot workers, students and residents with international connections. Lebara Mobile's says its heritage of serving multi-cultural communities in the other seven countries in which it operates has enabled it to develop a deep understanding of the needs of these customers.
Yoganathan Ratheesan, CEO of Lebara, commented: "France represents a significant opportunity for Lebara. We feel that our target audiences continue to be underserved and we are confident that our proven success can be replicated in the French market, ultimately displacing pre-paid international calling cards."
Given the regionalised nature of the French market, Lebara says it will use a combination of well-known shops and independent retailers, telecom outlets and tobacconists to reach customers all over France, with top-ups available from e-terminals and as scratchcards. SIM cards and top-ups will also soon be available.
Uniquely, for the French market, Lebara says its Mobile airtime vouchers will not expire. This means that Lebara Mobile customers can choose to use their credit as and when they like.
Ratheesan added: "This is a particularly exciting time for Lebara, following our German market entry in January this year and the first market launch of our mobile internet and content services in the UK last month. We know that our services mean more to our customers than just making calls – they are an important bond with family and friends, and we look forward to making that bond as easy and low-cost as possible for French consumers."
Lebara provides call connections though its close relationships with over 70 global telecommunications carriers, as well as 'excellent' network coverage as a result of its partnership with Bouygues Telecom. Lebara says its customers can also expect 'transparent and honest' pricing, and access to a dedicated multi-lingual customer services team who can answer queries in up to 22 different languages, including Arabic, Chinese and Turkish.
With Lebara Mobile, international calls start from 9 cents per minute, national calls are 15 cents per minute, and national and international SMSs are 10 cents and 15 cents each respectively. A call set-up charge of 9 cents applies to all calls: national calls are billed by the second and international calls are billed per minute. To celebrate the launch, Lebara Mobile says it is offering an extra 50 percent credit free on all top-ups for a limited time and free calls to other Lebara customers in France when they top-up.