In June, three Spanish operators introduced price plans with call rates of EUR 0.06 per minute and an advertised monthly rental of EUR 6.00. There seems to be somewhat of a price war going on in Spain aimed at customers who want a low monthly rate, transparent costs and, in some cases, a call allowance over the weekend.

In mid-June, Vodafone became the latest Spanish operator to launch a price plan offering call charges to any network at EUR 0.06. Its XS6 plan has a EUR 9.00 minimum usage, which already includes the EUR 6.00 monthly rental. XS6 also includes 250 minutes to any network during weekends and public holidays.

Previously this month, Movistar launched Tarifa 6, which offers 250 minutes of weekend calls for a EUR 9.00 minimum usage with EUR 6.00 rental included. Both plans charge EUR 0.15 per SMS.

Orange's Basico 6 plan, also launched in June, offers a SMS rate of EUR 0.06 as well as a minimum usage requirement of EUR 6.00, which is lower than that of its two main rivals.

Spain's fourth operator, Yoigo, is currently offering its La del Seis contract price plan, which gives a EUR 0.06 call rate, but a EUR 0.10 price for text messages. It is worth noting that the EUR 0.10 SMS rate also applies to international text messages. The plan incurs a minimum monthly usage of EUR 19.00, which is EUR 10.00 higher than two of the other plans.

Full details of the plans above are available in T-Cellular Online. Teligen monitors price developments of this sort in its continuous updates of T-Cellular Online http://sa-link.cc/3i

Latvian operator BITE has replaced its previous range of ten tariffs with three price plans: BITE 1.5, 3.5 and 8.5.

BITE 1.5 users benefit from unlimited calls and texts to BITE plus a data allowance, whereas the other two plans include minutes and text messages to all networks with more data.  

All three plans are available on a pre-paid or post-paid basis, with no difference in rates. However, users requiring a handset will have to commit for 12 or 24 months, depending on the device chosen.

Full details of the plans above are available in T-Cellular Online. Teligen monitors price developments of this sort in its continuous updates of T-Cellular Online http://sa-link.cc/3i

Orange is now offering a range of five pay monthly tariffs to the Kenyan market. Each plan is available as a capped (hybrid) plan, called Orange Mobile Flex, or as a post-paid plan without capped usage (Orange Mobile Max). Call rates and minimum usage are identical between the two types of plan. However, the Flex tariffs incur a KES 250.00 monthly access charge, which is waived for Max users. Prices for off-net calls and text messages are the same for each tariff, but on-net calls and data usage become cheaper as the minimum spend commitment increases.

Full details of the plans above are available in T-Cellular Online. Teligen monitors price developments of this sort in its continuous updates of T-Cellular Online http://sa-link.cc/3i

Orange France has added a dedicated iPhone plan to its Origami range of tariffs. Origami pour iPhone is available on a 12 or 24-month basis for EUR 65.00 or EUR 59.00 per month respectively. The price plan offers 5 hours of calls per month, as well as unlimited SMS and MMS to any operator. The monthly data allowance is 2GB, after which speed is reduced. Unlimited Orange Wi-Fi services, email and access to over 60 television channels are also included with this iPhone plan.

The Origami range already included Origami Star, a Smartphone plan offering unlimited off-peak calls as well as a data allowance. Compared with Origami Star, Orange's new iPhone tariff does not offer the off-peak benefits but it gives a more generous anytime voice allowance in return.

Also, Orange France is now offering all of its post-paid plans on a SIM-only basis, with discounts ranging from EUR 3.00 to EUR 10.00 per month. The EUR 3.00 discount applies to the operator's hybrid plans (Forfaits Bloques) whereas users signing on to Origami Jet can save up to EUR 10.00 per month if they do not require a handset.

Other changes implemented by Orange this month affect the Origami Zen Forfait, which now includes unlimited calls to fixed lines for plans of 3 hours and over.

Full details of the plans above are available in T-Cellular Online. Teligen monitors price developments of this sort in its continuous updates of T-Cellular Online http://sa-link.cc/3i

The Mexican mobile operator Telcel has introduced two new calling plans, called Telcel 500 and Telcel 1000.

Those plans includes 500 or 1000 minutes respectively for calls to any network within the country but the interesting thing about those plans is that also include more SMS than Telcel current offers moving up from a maximum of 50 SMS to 250 or 500 SMS per month.

Furthermore, the additional charge after the inclusive minutes allowance is now a flat rate for all networks, when for Telcel existing mobile plans the additional minutes charge has been always higher when calling to other mobile operators. Competitor Movistar also offers one single plan with flat rate; however it is very expensive compared to the new Telcel 500 and Telcel 1000 offers.

Full details of the plans above are available in T-Cellular Online. Teligen monitors price developments of this sort in its continuous updates of T-Cellular Online http://sa-link.cc/3i

Brazilian operator Vivo has launched a range of eight plans for Smartphones. All plans come with a voice and data allowance ranging from 45 minutes and 50MB to 1600 minutes and 250MB. To customise their plan, users can select two out of four add-ons: a text message allowance, national roaming minutes, off-peak minutes or minutes to preferential numbers. The highest value plan, Vivo Smartphone Completo, includes all four benefits.

Vivo's range of seven iPhone tariffs, introduced earlier this year, operates along similar lines. These plans give a higher data allowance and consequently, incur a higher monthly rental.

Full details of the plans above are available in T-Cellular Online. Teligen monitors price developments of this sort in its continuous updates of T-Cellular Online http://sa-link.cc/3i

Vodafone Netherlands is now offering a choice of top-up bonuses to pre-paid users. Previously, under the top-up more (Meerwaarderen) scheme, users were given additional minutes or text messages to any operator, depending on the value of the recharge. With the new Meerwaarderen Plus scheme, as an alternative choice, pre-paid customers can select a bonus of on-net voice, text and data. 20MB of data is offered to users who recharge by EUR 20.00 per month. They will also receive 20 on-net minutes and 20 on-net SMS. Higher recharges, from EUR 30.00, give a higher bonus allowance.

Full details of the plans above are available in T-Cellular Online. Teligen monitors price developments of this sort in its continuous updates of T-Cellular Online http://sa-link.cc/3i

French operator Bouygues has replaced its Forfait Classic with a new range called Nouveau Forfait Classic. In return for a slightly increased monthly rental, all plans now offer unlimited SMS and MMS to all French operators. Users can choose from five voice allowances, from 1 hour to 6 hours per month, with various contract durations and SIM only options. Other rates, including the EUR 0.36 per minute charge with per second billing, remain unchanged.

Full details of the plans above are available in T-Cellular Online. Teligen monitors price developments of this sort in its continuous updates of T-Cellular Online http://sa-link.cc/3i

T-Mobile have overhauled some of their post and prepaid plans to include generous free data allowances.

The pre-paid USD 70.00 plan now comes with unlimited data and the USD 50.00 plan offers 100MB of data.

With regard to the post-paid plans: Both the "Unlimited" and "500 Minute" plans offer increasing levels of free data ranging from 200MB to a maximum of 10GB.

In all cases the speed available is 4G (on capable devices) and once the allowance has been reached the speed is throttled.

Previously prepaid customers who overran their data allowance would have had to refill their plan early or purchase a USD 1.49 24 hour day pass.

Full details of the plans above are available in T-Cellular Online. Teligen monitors price developments of this sort in its continuous updates of T-Cellular Online http://sa-link.cc/3i

Latin America's largest mobile operator Telcel Mexico, has increased its data allowances with up to 100MB more per month on its "Mas por Menos Social Media" post-paid plans.

Mas por Menos Social plans 1 to 3 before included 150MB per month, this has now increased to 250MB per month. Plans 4 to 6 went up to 400MB from 300MB and 7 to 10 increased from 500MB to 600MB per month. Prices or charges on those plans remain same as last month.

Moreover, Telcel now offers data allowances on its basic post-paid plans, from now customers will be able to enjoy mobile browsing at no extra cost starting from Mas por Menos 3 offer up to the Mas por Menos 10 plan a 75MB allowanced is included as part of the plan. Previous, only the basic plans from 7 to 10 offered 30MB.

Full details of the plans above are available in T-Cellular Online. Teligen monitors price developments of this sort in its continuous updates of T-Cellular Online http://sa-link.cc/3i