FreeMove
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
FreeMove is an alliance of several European mobile telecommunications operators, designed to provide better service integration for its members' roaming customers. It is a competitor of Starmap and Vodafone (the latter of which is not an alliance, but provides the same benefits due to its presence in so many European and world markets).
The idea for mobile alliances came from the airline industry, where groups such as Oneworld and Star Alliance have existed since the 1990s.
Currently FreeMove comprises of Orange (France Télécom's mobile subsidiary), TIM (Telecom Italia's mobile subsidiary), T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom's mobile subsidiary) and TeliaSonera. Within Europe, these companies have operations in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
In January 2006, Telefónica announced that it will leave the FreeMove alliance as a condition of the acquisition of the mobile telco, O2. However later in 2006, TeliaSonera agreed to become a member.
