AGC
Mobistar offers the best roaming rates.
With some hundred manufacturing sites, ranging from Spain to Russia, and its worldwide commercial network, AGC Glass Europe is an European leader in the production of flat glass for the construction, car and solar application sectors. This manufacturer was on the lookout for advantageous solutions to cope with the level of its mobile phone traffic.
Pierre-Olivier Debordes, procurement department of AGC Glass Europe
Mobistar also offers us a fleet formula. Now our Belgian people can phone each other almost free, whether on landlines or on mobiles. For a fleet of 1,200 SIM cards, this means very considerable savings!
Pierre-Olivier Debordes works in the procurement department of AGC Glass Europe, based in Brussels. With more than 14,000 employees and an annual turnover of 2.5 billion euros, AGC Glass Europe are leaders in the innovative glass technology market for the construction (glass and mirrors for external glazing, interior decoration and furniture), car, transport (train, tram, ships) and solar application sectors.
The problem
Control roaming costs
“Our engineers and technicians move around daily between our manufacturing sites abroad. From the factory site they must be able to communicate directly with their colleagues in Brussels and the other European sites,” explains Pierre-Olivier Debordes, buyer for AGC Glass Europe. “This volume of international phone traffic is a significant expense item in our budget.”
The solution
An effective formula for major firms
“When we selected an operator for our mobile telecommunication in 2007, it wasn’t a choice we made lightly. With coverage of more than 210 countries, roaming contracts with more than 500 foreign operators and attractive call rates, Mobistar seemed a very good candidate,” explains Mr. Debordes. “Mobistar also offers us a fleet formula, which makes internal national communication very attractive, as AGC Glass Europe has about twenty sites in Belgium, including the central European headquarters. Now our Belgian people can phone each other almost free, whether on landlines or on mobiles. For a fleet of 1,200 SIM cards, this means very considerable savings.” “Mobistar understands better than anyone that a business of our size needsoperational formulas for its roaming rates. In 2008, our roaming costs amounted to 230,000 euros. Subscriber formulas or formulas based on a limited number of call minutes would therefore handicap us greatly. At present there are three distinct rates per geographic calling area: one for outgoing international calls, one for incoming roaming calls and one for outgoing roaming calls, no matter whether we call from fixed or mobile numbers or who the foreign operator is. We pay according to our actual usage. Our contacts with Mobistar account and service managers are very good. We exchange information at our quarterly meetings. Mobistar listens to our needs and does everything to offer us appropriate solutions.”
The result
Basic needs absolutely satisfied
“Our current contract has certainly met our basic needs with regard to roaming, but the rates had to be adjusted in the light of our cost-saving programme in these times of crisis. In addition, almost unlimited free calls between staff members mean a great gain in terms of productivity. This advantage was undoubtedly an original extra which no other operator could offer us. We have full confidence in continued fruitful cooperation with Mobistar.”