At this year's PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit, Tru, the first global mobile carrier, will showcase how business travelers can significantly reduce international mobile roaming costs while maintaining the flexibility and productivity associated with doing business anywhere in the world.

Tru will demonstrate its patented and patent-pending technology as a finalist at this year's event, which annually shows off the newest and best travel technology for both platforms and users.  Tru has been recognized as being one of the best innovations in travel due to the unique way it helps travelers reduce international mobile roaming costs by 30-90 percent.  

"We appreciate PhoCusWright's selection of Tru to participate at this year's event. It gives us the opportunity to show how we can put an end to the 'bill shock' of international roaming costs most travelers encounter when returning from traveling abroad," said Gary Cohen, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Tru Americas.  "The need to balance costs with productivity is essential in any business. Tru will give employees the competitive advantage of being 'always on' and available whenever, and wherever, the need arises."

Early indications from a research study on international mobile roaming costs conducted by CCMI, a telecom data services provider, reveals that nearly 70 percent of Fortune 1000 companies have been battling a steady increase in international roaming charges for the last three years.  More than one-third of the companies surveyed said employees traveling internationally submit monthly cell phone bills over $1,000.  Due to this trend, over half indicated they have initiated formal mandates to reduce the costs. The study also revealed that nearly 90 percent of the companies surveyed would be willing to change their current mobile provider to secure better and more predictable international mobile phone plans.  The CCMI survey was commissioned by Tru in October 2011 to gauge the impact these costs have on actual businesses.

Separately, a recently published report by Egencia, a leading global provider of travel services, states that business travel is expected to increase in 2012, with estimates for air and hotel rates to continue climbing as high as four percent.