Oslo, Norway-based Telenor Satellite Services already is in the giving spirit with its plans to offer cut-rate phone calls to the crew of its sea-based clients during the upcoming holiday season. The company, in tandem with satellite operator Inmarsat, is extending its low-cost Super Quite Time (SQT) discount pricing to around-the-clock pricing beginning 20:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) Christmas Eve 2004 and running until 6:00 GMT Jan. 3, 2005.

The holiday season normally is a time of low call volume. The promotion to appeal to price-sensitive users has worked in previous years, and its extension to cover an 11-day window will be an interesting marketing approach to monitor.

Telenor’s SQT program features substantially reduced prices of less than $1 per minute for prepaid voice calls over maritime Inmarsat-B, -M, Mini-M and all fleet services. Holiday pricing promotions have been offered in the past but never for such a lengthy period of time, said Tom Surface, director of public relations in the Rockville, Md.-based office of Telenor Satellite Services. The joint effort between Telenor Satellite Services, a subsidiary of Norway’s Telenor [TELN], and Inmarsat are good for their sea-based customers and help to “stimulate business for us,” he added.

The 24/7 discounted phone rates makes it “easier” for crew on board ships to call their loved ones anywhere in the world at the most convenient times during the holidays rather than the least expensive times, Surface explained.

Telenor provides global communications via satellite for customers on land, at sea and in flight. Services provided by the company include high-speed data, voice and video communications, as well as a portfolio of value-added features, including prepaid calling, Internet access with e-mail and direct calling.

(Tom Surface, Telenor Satellite Services, 301/838-7805)