The big winners at the FIFA World Cup in Germany are not going to be the TV companies or the highly (over) paid footballers but the German mobile phone operators. The largest sporting event on the planet apart from the Olympic Games, the World Cup is expected to attract more than one million fans from outside Germany -- and if one thing is more certain than death and taxes it is that every single one of them will have a mobile phone.
Of the 32 teams participating in the World Cup, 21 are from outside Europe, which means a big roaming payday (pay month‾) for German mobile operators.
According to statistics from Informa Telecom & Media, a Brazilian supporter conveying his excitement at his team's progress to his family back home will pay EUR3.50 a minute, three times what it will cost a European supporter. Overall, Informa estimates the roaming windfall will amount to EUR36.5 million generated through voice, text and video calls.
The big question facing German operators is will their networks support this unprecedented level of demand, particularly as it will be localized to the main venues rather than spread evenly across the country‾
BSG Clearing Solutions, which is responsible for ensuring that the roaming calls are all paid for, is quietly confident that there will be no problems. Nearly all the German operators are BSG clients so presumably the operators themselves share this optimism. They must be, all of them are heavily promoting World Cup related content such as player photos, historic video clips and games, as well as instant action replays. The advice might be to take your phone but don't hold your breath about getting ubiquitous service.
Of the 32 teams participating in the World Cup, 21 are from outside Europe, which means a big roaming payday (pay month‾) for German mobile operators.
According to statistics from Informa Telecom & Media, a Brazilian supporter conveying his excitement at his team's progress to his family back home will pay EUR3.50 a minute, three times what it will cost a European supporter. Overall, Informa estimates the roaming windfall will amount to EUR36.5 million generated through voice, text and video calls.
The big question facing German operators is will their networks support this unprecedented level of demand, particularly as it will be localized to the main venues rather than spread evenly across the country‾
BSG Clearing Solutions, which is responsible for ensuring that the roaming calls are all paid for, is quietly confident that there will be no problems. Nearly all the German operators are BSG clients so presumably the operators themselves share this optimism. They must be, all of them are heavily promoting World Cup related content such as player photos, historic video clips and games, as well as instant action replays. The advice might be to take your phone but don't hold your breath about getting ubiquitous service.