Remaining connected on international journeys is no longer the exclusive domain of businesspeople. Tourists and holidaymakers also want access to the Internet so that they can keep in touch with their family and friends back home, but more importantly, with the coming of social media, they can post photos and videos online. While mobile devices have made it easier than before to connect with people, taking your phone out of your home country can leave a bad taste in your mouth when you get hit by a huge international roaming bill.
However, this is all set to change as TripAlly unveil a solution that not only will allow you to carry your home phone number abroad, but also skip all the pain that is associated with high priced data access in exotic parts of the world. Travelers are also being promised a comprehensive solution that goes beyond just data, with TripAlly sorting out taxis, currency exchange, attraction tickets and more.
International connectivity is no longer a luxury of the few
World tourism has been growing for seven consecutive years leading up to 2016. International tourist arrivals saw a growth of 3.9% to reach 1.235 million according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. As more and more people travel, the needs of these travelers have to be met and in today’s digital era, mobile phones and people are nearly inseparable. We rely on these devices to connect with our friends and family, to keep in touch with our work, to navigate and find our way, to look up places of interest and do many more things.
Gone is the era when mobile phones were the domain of the business road warrior, today tourists are using these devices to take selfies in front of famous landmarks, make video calls back to their families and locate new attractions. However, the exorbitant international roaming prices or just the sheer inconvenience of swapping SIMs still creates hurdles. It is not uncommon to see people just give up on the idea of using their phones abroad other than for the occasional free Wi-Fi hotspots that are available sporadically. It comes as no surprise then that you will find Japanese tourists wandering around New York with paper maps in hands or US tourists unable to share the wonders of the Great Wall with their families back home.
TripAlly can fix international mobile telephony
TripAlly is a mobile application based platform that will be built to provide seamless internet connectivity for people on the go across borders. It will be initially launched in South-East Asian countries of Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. TripAlly have partnered with local mobile operators so that the system will work as soon as visitor arrives, and the user can get connectivity from the moment they land. Apart from mobile internet, TripAlly is working together with transportation companies, such as Uber, Grab and other local companies to provide safe and convenient transportation services to its customers. Travelers will be able to get information about their destination same as locals do and even keep track of their purchases and bonuses using TripAlly.
Talking about how the whole system would function Aleksey Gordienko, the CEO of TripAlly tells us, “TripAlly partnering with international and domestic Mobile Operators to provide internet services, the entire explanation of how TripAlly works with Mobile Operators is in our Whitepaper.”
Aleksey pointing to the need for better alternates says, ““There were 1.2 billion travelers around the world in 2016 and that number is constantly increasing, at TripAlly we believe that everyone who travels should have access to cheap and unlimited mobile Internet. Travelers should not have to worry about staying connected with their loved ones whilst they travel, and they should be able to share their travel experience instantly. It will make the travel industry better and contribute to the freedom for the traveler!”
TripAlly ICO will help create the platform
TripAlly are holding an initial coin offering (ICO) starting October 15, 2017 and will be selling one hundred million Ally coins during the period of the sale up to November 30, 2017. Ally coins are fully ERC20 compliant and issued on the Ethereum blockchain. The price of the coin has been fixed at 0.005 ETH per 1 Ally coin or 200 Ally coins per 1 ETH. There is also a pre-ICO that will continue till October 15, 2017 during which time investors can purchase Ally Coins at even a deeper discount. The crowdsale will help Ally build and launch their platform. Investors who come to the crowdsale early can benefit from the discounts on coins.
Investors may gain from predictable returns
Aleksey talking about the crowdsale reveals an interesting tidbit, “The main benefit for investors purchasing ALLY token is imminent financial gain after the ICO and, once the TripAlly Internet services becomes available in Asia the price of 1 ALLY token will be no less than $3 USD. 1 ALLY token is equivalent of one day of mobile internet on TripAlly’s platform. For those who doesn’t have ALLY coins, price will be set at $3 per day of mobile internet. At the pre-ICO stage we sell ALLY tokens with deep discount, which results in price per token between $0.50 and $0.60 cents.
This structure guarantees an exceptional ROI for the purchasers of ALLY tokens. Second important point that every purchaser of ALLY token becomes our promoter (in terms of marketing) and distributor; we don’t prohibit the transfer/resell of ALLY tokens within TripAlly platform, besides cryptocurrency exchanges.” We were told by TripAlly in an email that the return on investment (ROI) maybe as high as 400%.
Aleksey also said that the investors are important from the perspective that they become a promoter of the product and services as well as they act as a distributor. There is no prohibition of transfer and resale of ALLY coins on the platform as well as on the cryptocurrency exchanges. The purchase of tokens can be made through the website where the purchase procedure has been explained in detail.
Can we just use our phones?
Using mobile phones abroad is troublesome. If you have a phone contract at home, when you go to another country you usually have a sim locked device which means you can’t just use a foreign prepaid provider unless you buy a new phone. If you rent a mobile wifi device, you pay high rentals and if traveling in a group, everyone has to stick together to use the internet. Even if you can swap sim cards and gain access to a local provider, you lose touch with your home number, which means no texts from the bank, credit card company and the people you know. There is no solution at the moment that is just right.
TripAlly is planning to solve this issue forever and get rid of the dreaded roaming bill once and for all. The best part is that these services will be easy to use and can be purchased both at home and in foreign countries as Aleksey points out, “Services will be available at major airports of departure and in every airport of arrival where TripAlly services are present, and, eventually in every major airport. There is no restriction from TripAlly when and where our clients can use services. Traveller can purchase TripAlly services before the departure date, at the point of arrival or during the stay in the country. The activation of TripAlly Internet services happens instantly after the payment process is completed.”
A telecom solution that is futureready
The way we travel is ever changing. We have come a long way from the eras of the steamship and the Zeppelins. The state of flux continues with Ellon Musk proposing travel to any part of the world in just 30 minutes using rockets. If Musk’s plans materialise humanity would speed to their destinations at the peak speed of 18,000 miles per hour. This could change the way people see international travel and with economies of scale in the future, it would be possible to travel from destination A to B across the world even multiple times a day.
Would we still want to use outdated international roaming as we jetset across the world or would we option for a seamless technology like the one TriAlly want to develop? As the world becomes smaller, we really need to get ready for a new era of international telecommunications as well.