DST warns against 'bill shock' due to data roaming rates

AS A worrying number of mobile users encounter enormous phone bills due to Data Roaming, the DST Group is reminding their Prima customers to turn off their smartphones' data roaming capabilities as the holiday season approaches.

Hj Marsad Hj Ismail, the group's development officer during a press conference at their headquarters yesterday urged customers to be wary when using their smartphones as they travel as there are cases of bills totaling $14,000 for data roaming usage.

"We are concerned and we would like for our customers to not receive a case of 'Bill Shock' as countries in the region charge $14 to $15 per megabyte (MB), as compared to Brunei's $0.20 per MB, 70 times the difference," said Hj Marsad. DST's main aim now is to create more awareness for their customers and urging them to switch off data roaming whenever they are travelling, and would like to remind Prima customers to use WiFi services when overseas.

"We cannot control the prices of what operators in Singapore and Malaysia is offering ($14-15/MB) or other operators in the UK who charge almost $30/MB. Even though there is a limit for our customer's usage, it's different for when they use data overseas," he explained.

He added: "For example, if you are using data overseas, it takes at least 10 hours for the operator there to send us the bill, so there is a lag. Within that 10 hours, you can already rack up a high bill. We are monitoring customers' usage, but due to the lag when it comes to data use, this is not possible."

Currently, DST is working on a technical solution to alert customers when they are overseas and are generating a high usage amount to prevent the situation from escalating. Hj Marsad said that the average amount that customers encounter is around $1,000, and there are a few cases of bills going up to more than $10,000.

He stressed that DST cannot alter the rates of foreign operators as everyone in the world gets charged the same amount should they use data while on roaming in Singapore or Malaysia.

"Our system shows that most of the data used is for Facebook or WhatsApp," he added.

For customers with extremely high bills, DST has offered them a re-payment plan as they bear the initial costs of their bill so far.

"We are talking to vendors as well, but in the meantime, relevant authorities are working with countries in the region to come up with an agreement to reduce roaming tariffs, but these talks are for voice and messages, not data yet," he said. Currently, DST is distributing posters to create more awareness for their Prima customers. The Brunei Times