Vodafone Passport was launched in UK about last June, but first rumoured in Jan and announced in March.

I recently read that about 30% of UK customers are registered, but I don't recall whether that was out of only people that use roaming, or all or only post-paid subscribers.

Most but not all Vodafone networks have a similar arrangement, though under different brand names. Not reading all the languages means I can't tell if the terms are always the same, but the UK version has calls in the roamed country and back to UK at the normal tariff ie prepaid tariff or out of inclusive postpaid minutes.

The cheap calls back to the SIM's home country mean that you can use a calling card that doesn't necessarily have a Maltese access number, but one in the SIMs home country. So this could be of interest to US readers.

If I was making one long call to family, I'd dial direct, but has also struck me that a series of calls could be combined by using the calling card # follow on feature - the extra 2c a minute could be worthwhile to save the connect fees to Vodafone.

I haven't actually done this yet, but I intend to have Vodafone UK SIM and Bizon calling card as a backup or alternative to other SIMs, especially off-peak at 5p per minute Voda plus 2c Bizon. Enjoyprepaid would be similar rates.

30% of UK Voda POSTPAY have signed up.... So what is the total Voda UK postpay market share? I would contend it is still not many. T-MO US postpay does not offer such an option. It may be that T-MO Germany does, but I don't think it is available to their prepaid customers -- I am one of them.

Passport is available to UK voda prepaid users also -- for an additional montly fee, true?

I don't see how a UK Voda POSTPAY SIM would buy a US user much -- contact costs included unless one travels very often. I know of NO US firms that offer such an option apart from the grandfathered T-MO rates. Can you explain?

Clear; for someone who has UK Voda pasport.... call a UK local # from Malta (or wherever @ the low local rate on the Voda passport option) OR for non-UK international calls to a local UK calling card # (Bizon, Enjoyprepaid, etc for the extra fee - and usually, you have PAID IN ADVANCE SO THE COSTS ARE ALREADY PAID FOR) also at the low local passport rate.

Stan

I added passport to my prepaid vodafone IE account as well as my vodafone UK accounts for no charge...the vodafone IE is pretty good...only a 29? (Euro) surcharge to receive calls in the UK and 79?(Euro) surcharge to receive calls in other voda European networks; although as long as United Mobile works it's a better deal and as long as CBW keeps the 14? US rate that's the direction to go..Vodafone UK did not charge me to sign up...

Also I have an old Vodafone NL sim that is still active and I read I could sign up for free for their Vodafone passport...have to decide if I wish to do so apparently it's free..

Doesn't hurt to have backups...

Incidentally a propos of Enlinea and United Mobile, there was a thread here about an e mail claiming the cost was back to 12?; don't know where anybody got that from...when I checked today papaya or is it mangru was showing US to Liechtenstein Mboile and vice versa at 62? US...the other one is 21? US....fired off an email to eninea basically saying that I was very naive and had just checked their web site and it must be a misprint that the charge from the US to FL mobiles is 62? when after all CBW is still 14?/minute. I got a very curt response back that yes that is their price...

OT here... the onesuite LOCAL rate to 423 663 is 25 cents / minute.

While not TERRIFIC, if you compare that with a rate to a German or French mobile, that is in line.

Stan

For those interested, more developments on the EU Regulation that should be enacted by summer 2007: :D

SECOND PHASE PUBLIC CONSULTATION
on a Proposal for a Regulation (EC) of the European Parliament and of the
Council on mobile roaming services in the Single Market

published yesterday:

http://europa.eu.int/information_society/a...n_2nd_phase.pdf

Contains all relevant information, including comments from different operators. Looks like incoming fees will be cancelled... :thumbup: but will this reduce the amazing role prepaidgsm is currently playing???

Interesting also at the roadmap on the last page.

Sec

Notice the text says this is the PREFERRED APPROACH..... Not necessarily the one that is finally implemented. I suspect the providers will have plenty to say against free inbound roaming WITHOUT compensation in home country. How will they make up for those lost revenues?

Seems to do nothing about the absurd international rates -- vacation location back to home country still goes as an international call as I see it. These can be lowered by:

1. using a CALLBACK service or
2. using a calling card with toll free or local #s
or possibly others.

The road to free roaming is still long, because in the actual business model roaming fees are a rich source of revenues, both directly and through the application of expensive interconnection fees.

If somebody is willing to read the GSMA argumentation on this matter, here is a link:
http://www.gsmworld.com/news/press_2...ess06_23.shtml

and the link to the press release, upon which the article in italian in the first post of this thread was probably based:
http://www.gsmworld.com/documents/press/gs...int_roaming.pdf

Among the ridiculous justifications for keeping roaming prices high, I found:
"Operators? voice revenues per minute for all calls (international roaming and domestic), have been declining at an average rate of 5% per annum over the last four years across Europe and this decline is accelerating" and "Operators have invested heavily in the roll out of 3G networks".
I leave the comments up to you...

The report I read indicates that not only do they want free reception of calls throughout the EU they want it done without increase prices of domestic calls.

So how do the operators absorb the loss of revenue...well obviously by raising the costs of roaming outside the EU say of course the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, et al...

I can see the cost of international roaming going through the sky say for a US citizen using his or her mobile phone in Europe....

Also one other thought comes to mind....perhaps they will try to restrict use of free roaming only to EU citizens...you know if a Canadian buys a British prepaid sim, the EU roaming agreement would not be in effect....will create a black market probably for people not living in the EU to register their phones using somebody's info (I can see prepaidgsm.net brokering such agreements eh)....

One can't see the companies such as Vodafone, T Mo taking this loss of revenue lying down now does anybody?

http://www.etns.org/ - perhaps this might be a solution:

Personal Numbering
This category of services is intended for the private and business use of individuals. Personal Numbering services will allow individuals physical mobility within Europe and between fixed and mobile services. Individuals will be able to provide colleagues, clients, friends, and others a single number at which they can be reached.

Personal Numbering services are identified by the service code 7 which follows the ETNS code.

The remainder of the number will be nine digits and cannot normally be truncated.

Example: +3883-7-XXX-XXX-XXX.



The capacity of this numbering range is 1 billion. Let each European mobile have its +38837 alias to which CPP across Europe would apply and at least the problem of non-free incoming calls will be solved :)

Very interesting. I doubt, however, this can be a solution. It doesn't seem to solve the incoming calls problem:

But, having said this, can't wait to have my Personal European Number!! :P

:poster_oops: I haven't read all the contents of the site .
But all this means that they just invented a stupid idea for payments. It seems to be just shared cost lines.

What I think is what it SHOULD be, namely assigning a +38837 alias to each European phone number and calling it on CPP rule. If we consider up-to-date rates to call international sims, I think that 30-50 eurocents to call any +38837 phone with "full" CPP might be possible. It would be something like calling "personal premium rate" number with redirecting to another line (discussed here: http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/inde...howtopic=1048).
If +38837 numbering range were split into mobile and landline part, calls to landline parts might even be cheaper. Of course, applying landline European numbering would make sense basically only if cross-border number portability were enabled...

My impression is that the Personal European Number is a sort of attempt of exhuming something like the "Personal number" that we had in Italy (abbandoned by Telecom Italia at the end of 2003 - but, if I am not mistaken, still used by some operators like Tiscali to provide some services - in the case of Tiscali a freefax/email service)

The idea of the Personal Number was to have a single number that would forward any call to mobile/fix line (just like the P.E.N.). What made it a total failure was, I think, not only the cost (having to pay the call forwarding) but also the number which had been adopted: still today, it's difficult to find out how much you spend when calling a 178 number! But above everything else, the most stupid part of this project is that 178 cannot be called from abroad!!! :meh:

I "need" one :D

Do I smell a FREE LUNCH? Who is paying for the privilege? And how much?

Stan

I don't think you do. I've just found some for sale for VoIP use for ?1 per month, which is fine, but ...

I looked up another company's tariff to call the number

Destination: Euro Sat
Number: +3883 790000xxxx
Location: European Telephony Numbering Space follow-me / personal
Cost: 310.0 p (Including VAT)

- maybe I'll wait until there is a bit more convergence on tariffs! - or SIP peering agreement ...

- for that price and description, you should be calling an astronaut!

:blink: WOW!

I wonder if it means the "follow me" owner doesn't have to pay the call forwarding...?

Maybe the networks are going to react more positively to the EU's stance on roaming after all.

After Vodafone's Passport last year, here is the beginning of the ranks breaking ...

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/Dispatcher?menui..._mobile_roaming
Free roaming including USA and Canada? Lightning strikes!

Ok, it's on post-paid, but clearly an experimental promotion like this stands a chance, especially when the other UK networks are already struggling to respond to T-mobile's launch of the Flext tariffs. I think the last sentence in the quote is just a bit too cynical though; if I'd signed up with them 3 weeks ago, I'd be lobbying very strongly to have this added.

Longer term, 50 minutes is not much, but note this is extra free minutes, not merely allowing inclusive use. I think T-mobile might have some difficulty now defending the joint position of the networks against the EU's initiatives. If they can't afford it, then what are they doing? But of course there could be an undertone of cynicism - perhaps they hope to buy off further changes and that this will be the full extent of any movement