JEDDAH — Four-in-five mobile phone users in Saudi Arabia (77%) said that they pay every month for minutes, texts or Internet data which they do not use, a new research commissioned by Virgin Mobile has found. These losses add up to well over five hours just of calls on average each year, consumers report, paid for but never made. Multiplied across Saudi Arabia's 50 million mobile phone subscriptions, this adds up to an almost unimaginable 305 centuries of national talk time consumers think they are losing every year. Virgin Mobile is today launching a new app that makes it easier than ever for members to manage their accounts. The app is available for download at www.virginmobile.sa/app. Virgin Mobile has designed its prepaid and postpaid accounts to be simple, straightforward and fair. Postpaid members are not charged for minutes, texts and data they do not use in their packages. The more prepaid members use, the lower the unit rate they pay. One-in-10 subscribers say they lose 100 minutes of calls or more each month, meaning that every year they pay for at least 20 hours of telephone conversations they never have. But a quarter of all consumers (25%) do not keep track of their subscriptions and are unable to estimate any losses. Two thirds of consumers in Saudi Arabia (65%) think it is wrong for mobile phone companies to charge for unused minutes, text and data. Karim Benkirane, CEO of Virgin Mobile Saudi Arabia, said: “It is hard to imagine consumers accepting this from any other industry. Getting what you pay for is a fundamental issue of fairness. Mobile phone plans should be simple, straightforward and fair. This is one way we are making mobile better.” The new Virgin Mobile app will make it even easier for members to keep track of how much talk time, texts and data they are using. Top-ups will be available directly on the app. Prepaid members will be able to see how their usage is earning them lower rates. The Virgin Mobile app also gives members access to great content from Virgin Mobile and its partners. The research found that texts are the most likely to be wasted, with 41% of mobile consumers in the Kingdom reporting that this is the biggest area of losses for them. Over a quarter of people aged 35-39 report that they waste minutes the most, the highest of any age group surveyed. People aged 30-34 believe that they lose the most minutes, with 28% saying that they lose 50 minutes or more each month. Ashwag Turky Baha, Customer Care Director at Virgin Mobile Saudi Arabia, said: “We're a nation that loves to stay connected with family and friends and with what is going on around us. That's why it's surprising to see so many minutes and texts and so much data being wasted. But worse than that, it's not fair. We think people should only pay for what they use, like any other product or service. The problem is people find mobile phone services hard to manage. Our customer care center and web selfcare already make it easy for Virgin Mobile members. Our new app is designed to make it even easier than ever.” — SG
