Claiming that it can save up to 30pc on business bundles with other operators, 3 Ireland entered the SME (small to medium-sized enterprise) market for the first time today with its Business Sharer price plans.
“The way we have designed it is that it encompasses text and data, so when you buy a bundle from 3 in the Business Sharer tariffs and you use so many minutes, so many texts, and so much data; it’s all out of that one bundle,” said Damien Gallagher, head of business and new initiatives at 3 Ireland.
Aimed at the SME, the Business Sharer bundle targets companies that have between one and 15 handsets and often find themselves paying extra for text add-on bundles for each of their employees.
Gallagher told siliconrepublic.com that, previously, many companies had the option of paying extra for a text bundle or paying per text message out of a bundle, which would set them back anywhere from 9c to 11c for some of 3’s competitors.
Gallagher also pointed to the data costs of surfing the web from a company mobile, saying that when he analysed competitor’s bills it often seemed to be charged as cost per megabyte outside of the standard package.
“In our case, that cost would be part of the bundle and the business would not be penalised for someone doing the odd bit of browsing,” he added.
The 3 sharer plan will include roaming in Northern Ireland and the UK, as well as data voice and text, says Gallagher. If a call is made from either region to the Republic, that cost will be included in the Sharer package he said.
By Marie Boran
