New Vodafone Price Plans

[solo12002]

This is the most up todate info I can get:

http://www.hughsymonscommunications.....asp?DBID=9642

[Alio]

solo12002,

Your link doesn't work?

[solo12002]

Hi

Thanks. this one should:

http://www.hughsymonscommunications.co.uk/comms/content.asp?DBID=9642

[Ben]

Way to keep it simple, Vodafone...

There's better value in there, but the plans are uninspired.

[Hands0n]

Good grief! Way to go Vodafone!! Make it more complex and hard to understand why don't you. Not quite as confusing as the Orange Animals but FFS how many more "Anytime 500" do you want to create?

In the classic words of the great Montgommery Python "This is getting silly......"

[whatleydude]

I was kinda hoping for a reason to stay with them.

Not another reason to leave!

Boooooo...

[solo12002]

Have to say I agree,. how disapointing dont even see them matching t-mobile or three no information about data at all.

[Yssybyl]

hmmmm. no wonder vodaphone have been constantly ringing me to get me to upgrade my tariff... I would change only a) I'm still on the staff deal that I got when I was working at Nokia and b) voda is the only network that gives decent coverage when I'm at home. Alhtough having seen the info they send out to the stores, it's no wonder some of the poor chaps are a bit confused when they try to advise you of the best tariffs...

[Ben]

Mhm.. been playing on www.vodafone.co.uk - their online system makes deciphering the new tariff structure much easier and, shock horror, I quite like it! It's not ideal, but on an 18 month contract you can get something like an N73 for free and then a choice of extras like STC, extra texts, line rental discounts... resulting in quite a tailored package.

While I'd hate to try and explain this in a store, it works online.

[Hands0n]

It is indeed a good web page for constructing the tariff of your choice, quite understandable. The only thing I don't like is that the additional call costs are not comprehensive - for instance, I do not know from those pages or their pop-ups how much any Data use will cost, nor how much it costs to make a Videocall on and off net (I found that info the other day, buried in the website - 35p on-net, 55p off-net, 55p International).

Its all very well Voda saying that they are going to downplay Videocalling and other 3G services, but it is quite disingeneous to [effectively] conceal such pricing when the facility is there to be used. An unwitting new Vodafone user making Videocalls is likely to be quite stunned at the first month's bill! It would be very likely to cost Vodafone that individuals goodwill, and no doubt their circle of friends and family (bad news spreads quicker than good).

I think that Transparency has not quite been taken on board by Vodafone ..... yet! Not, to be fair, that any of the others do too much better.

[3GScottishUser]

Indeed, the deals are pretty generous when you cut through to the detail. STC must be the very best add-on if your usage pattern includes lots of evening and weekend calling and Passport (free on all contracts) takes the pain out of mobile roaming in all EU countries and some beyond. Another great inclusion that will please many is the text bundles although its not so good that you can no longer use these proportionately for MMS.

The good thing about both Flext, the new Vodafone offerings and Orange's revamped animals deals are that the bundles are set for the enitre period of your contract, so no need to cut back on usage or buy extras after an inital period.

I think even 02 have a good deal at around £35 a month now which offers 750 X/Net Mins and 750 SMS plus a free 3G handset and a small data allowance + same cost video-calling. 02 also offer free off-peak calls from your home cell area which could eliminate charges from your home phone.

You really can get a lot for your £35 a month now from just about all the networks. I would be surprised if many people actually manage to use 750+ X/Net mins a month (that's 12.5 hours) or over 40 mins a day! The trick for the mobile telcos is to make you feel you have got a lot for you money whilst at the same time they know most customers wont actually use their full allowances.

T-Mobile still get my vote for simplicity with Flext. They have now applied the same logic to pre-pay with 'Everyone' and to the Mobile Internet with Web'N'Walk. The majors are now making their best deals available for about £30-35 a month and there appears to be little to separate them in terms of voice and text offerings at this critical price point. What is now making a difference is the 'extras' on offer. Orange provide free (up to) 8MB broadband for £30+ a month customers and that has to be factored into the value proposition especially if you have been paying BT or the like £25 a month for your home broadband service. 02 look like they will be following suit shortly after acquiring their own ISP in the UK.

Hopefully over the next few months all of the majors will revise their data offerings and compete directly with T-Mobile who appear to have stolen a march on the rest by offering a huge bundle (which they know most won't use) at a very attractive price.

Whilst price is a vital consideration so too is handset appeal, customer service, reliabilty and coverage. 02's recent results seem to prove that they have been very successful at identifying what UK customers want to buy and what they are prepared to pay for products.

There can be no denial that there is now very serious competition for mobile services in the UK and comparison with other countries costs now shows that the UK is no longer the overcharged island it used to be.