Vodafone UK Abolishes Roaming Charges for Summer and cuts long distance cost for good

[MATHA531]

babble...

It should only take one...that's what happened as I pointed out elsewhere in the USA...today it is unheard of on most of the USA cell carriers to have a litimed calling area...the USA is one big roaming area...you pay the same to receive a call if you have a T Mobile USA account in NY when you're in California as you do in NY. And it costs the same to make the call. I think that's the model Ms. Redding has hoped Europe to emulate.

As I said, I just can't see how the other vodafone companies can fail to match vodafone UK and I can[t see how the other British cell providers can afford not to match either. The only question is what will happen at the end of the summer.

[babble]

Yes, I agree with you entirely. The greater the public discussion, the greater the pressure on the mobile telecoms companies to completely abolish european roaming tariffs.

And my apologies to Ms Reding for previously misspelling her surname.

[inquisitor]

Originally Posted by MATHA531

As I said, I just can't see how the other vodafone companies can fail to match vodafone UK ...

Vodafone is obviously trialing those free incoming calls in the UK. Usage statistics from that trial will later form the basis of decision regarding the introduction of such or similar tariffs to other countries. Free incoming calls can become a losing game if the portion of calls over third-party (i.e. non-Vodafone) networks is too high. Vodafone may also have considered travel habits and geographical situation of each nation. Hungary e.g. is surrounded by countries, where Vodafone doesn't operate any network, so Hungarians are way more likely to roam on a non-Vodafone network than British, who mostly travel to Western European countries, in which Vodafone have their own networks. So I'm not that indignant about that preference of the British.

[hkr]

Originally Posted by inquisitor

Vodafone is obviously trialing those free incoming calls in the UK. Usage statistics from that trial will later form the basis of decision regarding the introduction of such or similar tariffs to other countries. Free incoming calls can become a losing game if the portion of calls over third-party (i.e. non-Vodafone) networks is too high. Vodafone may also have considered travel habits and geographical situation of each nation. Hungary e.g. is surrounded by countries, where Vodafone doesn't operate any network, so Hungarians are way more likely to roam on a non-Vodafone network than British, who mostly travel to Western European countries, in which Vodafone have their own networks. So I'm not that indignant about that preference of the British.

If travel statistics coincide with roaming statistics, Hungarians are not indeed that likely to go roaming in non-Vodafone countries in huge numbers... Where most of Hungarians go are Austria, Germany, Croatia... Even for neigbouring countries, maybe Slovakia is the one exception as Romania is Vodafone... It looks to me that Vodafone might have special roaming agreements with some providers, so not all Passport networks are Vodafone. Also, most countries where Hungarians travel are EU countries anyway, with the price cap effective. But why should they care? Vodafone passport is only a roaming tariff valid in countries where Vodafone wants it to be valid. If they are afraid of Hungarians travelling to YYY too much, they simply do not apply the tariff there. So easy

[andy]

I am abroad at the moment and unable to check details, but I will say this. The Vodafone cheap international calls from UK to certain countries have been there for some time; this is not something new at all. The variation of Vodafone Passport is a temporary promotion. Other Vodafone offers in UK are not necessarily valid abroad, for example stop the clock. So I very much doubt that there will be 5p calls possible while roaming, and suggest checking the terms before continuing speculation at this hysterical level.

[babble]

Originally Posted by andy

I very much doubt that there will be 5p calls possible while roaming, and suggest checking the terms before continuing speculation at this hysterical level.

Hi Andy,

No one is speculating. At the bottom of the press release from Vodafone UK, it states:

"Vodafone Pay as You Go call costs on the Simply Tariff for Vodafone International are:

USA, Canada, China: 5 ppm cost to call landline, 5 ppm cost to call mobile."

[babble]

The following text is also in the press release:

"From June 1, pay as you go and pay monthly consumer customers can talk, text and send picture messages from over 35 countries across Europe this summer for the same price as at home".

PS: If you don´t mind me asking, Andy, are you the famous Andy Abramson?

[babble]

Will vodafone UK make a greater profit with, or without roaming charges?

T-Mobile, Telefonica, etc, are likely to be adversely affected if they don´t announce similar, or even better, promotions. Vodafone´s immediate customer gain may be the other networks´ long-term loss.

The voip companies and the international phone card companies are likely to be losers. The (mobile) voip bloggers (Jeff Pulver, Andy Abramson, Dan York, etc) have not (yet) commented on the new vodafone UK promotion. But let´s be realistic -- who will search for voip wifi access, if they don´t have to pay anything extra (i.e. no roaming charges) to make or receive calls on their normal european cell phones? The vodafone UK promotion, if continued indefinitely, might be so successful that it kills the "mobile voip" mass market in Europe, before it even takes off! Well, at least until cheaper roaming data tariffs become available.

[andy]

Originally Posted by andy

I am abroad at the moment and unable to check details, but I will say this. The Vodafone cheap international calls from UK to certain countries have been there for some time; this is not something new at all. The variation of Vodafone Passport is a temporary promotion. Other Vodafone offers in UK are not necessarily valid abroad, for example stop the clock. So I very much doubt that there will be 5p calls possible while roaming, and suggest checking the terms before continuing speculation at this hysterical level.

Ok, the Vodafone International tariff is new, and has a lot more countries than the original list of just a few

Originally Posted by babble

Hi Andy,

No one is speculating. At the bottom of the press release from Vodafone UK, it states:

"Vodafone Pay as You Go call costs on the Simply Tariff for Vodafone International are:

USA, Canada, China: 5 ppm cost to call landline, 5 ppm cost to call mobile."

Originally Posted by babble

The following text is also in the press release:

"From June 1, pay as you go and pay monthly consumer customers can talk, text and send picture messages from over 35 countries across Europe this summer for the same price as at home".

Ok, now I'm back at home, and not browsing for rather limited periods on a mobile in wi-fi coverage, I looked at the Vodafone website

The terms and conditions are unambiguous:

UK - About Vodafone UK - Legal Information - Terms and conditions - Vodafone Passport

2. The Promotion: The Offer Period is from 0.00 on 1 June to 23.59 to 31 August 2009 UK time. Whilst registered with Vodafone Passport and within a Vodafone Passport country:

a. voice calls, texts and picture messages made or sent to the UK and within the same originating Vodafone Passport country during the Offer Period will be charged your standard UK rate; and

...



4. Vodafone Passport applies to voice calls made back to the United Kingdom or within the visited country and excludes calls to other countries, premium rate numbers and all data transfers (including text and picture messages).

So I think that is very clear - there will not be 5 pence a minute calls from Europe direct to USA or any other country

[Stu]

Not unless they bring roaming in the US on board which they should be able to do with their partial interest in Verizon. Now, if only we could get it to work the other way and have European wide data plans.