Topic: Vodafone introduces "out of bundle" data fees

[Simon]

Vodafone is introducing charges for customers who exceed the data cap on their mobile phone tariff.

In a message posted on the Vodafone forums the company says it will initiate charges from 1 June to "make it fairer for everyone, and to protect our network from data abuse".  The new scheme will see pay monthly customers charged £5 for every additional 500MB of data after the first 500MB. Non-contract customers will be stung for 50p per 10MB after the first 25MB, which means pay-as-you-go data is somehow five times more expensive than contract.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/357790/vodafone-introduces-out-of-bundle-data-fees

[sam]

wow, that's steep... hasn't anyone told them that bandwidth is cheap!

[Simon]

It does seem more of a penalty than a reasonable charge.  Glad I'm with O2. 

[Rik]

Time to ditch the dongle.

[Simon]

Don't other providers offer them?

[Rik]

I have a 3 one too.

[Simon]

Hopefully they won't all follow suit.

[Rik]

I doubt 3 could, as the bandwidth only lasts a month.

[Simon]

If it's as it appears, I can't see it being a popular move for Vodafone. 

[Rik]

I agree. My dongle will certainly get binned.

[Simon]

It seems they were even pricing themselves out of the iPad market, but changed their minds:

Vodafone has issued its official iPad 3G data tariffs - making them more attractive than the figures published by Apple this morning.

Visitors to the Apple website were told Vodafone was offering customers only 250MB of data per month for £10, rising to £25 for 5GB. That left Vodafone looking remarkably more expensive than its rivals, with Orange offering 3GB of data for £15 per month, and O2 allowing customers to pay £10 or £15 for a monthly data cap of 1GB or 3GB respectively.

Vodafone this morning disowned the Apple figures. This afternoon, it set the prices at £10 for 1GB and £25 for 5GB, bringing its prices in tandem with O2 and Orange.

When challenged on whether Vodafone had changed its prices in reaction to its rivals, a company spokesman told PC Pro: "we didn't announce anything until this afternoon."

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/357823/update-vodafone-comes-clean-on-ipad-pricing

[Rodders]

I have a 3 one too.  

I, for one, have a three one too, too.

[Rik]

I can't quite picture you in a tutu, Rod, is it pink?

[Simon]

Don't, Rik, he'll post the photos. 

[Rik]

Oh please, this I have to see.