[3GScottishUser]

Vodafone hits rip-off Wi-Fi with cheap 3G

Vodafone has announced a new €12 flat rate for 3G data, low enough to undercut the exorbitant price of Wi-Fi at European hotspots.

"Given that a typical European hotspot costs about €6 an hour, or €20-30 in business-class hotels, this would make it largely pointless for business travellers to use WiFi hotspots," says Dean Bubley of Disruptive Analysis. Wi-Fi is unmetered, but the Vodafone rate is capped at 50 Mbyte per day, which Bubley points out is enough for "two hours of Skype calls plus lots of emailed powerpoint documents." Skype uses about 500kbyte to 1 Mbyte per minute.

"With high speed 3G networks already deployed in many European markets, ongoing investment in new technologies to increase download speeds and clear, effective tariffs, Vodafone should be the network of choice for those seeking to use their laptops when traveling," said Arun Sarin, chief executive of Vodafone, throwing a gauntlet to hotspot providers and other operators.

The new tariff won't be available till 1st July 2007, so there is plenty of time for Europe's hotspot providers to respond with price cuts but, on past experience, there is little likelihood of this.

"The European Wi-Fi industry has managed to squander a more than 3-year lead over the cellular data industry," says Bubley. "It has been plagued by lousy interoperability, grudging roaming relationships, and stupid pricing. Obviously the right price for hotspot pricing has been on a par with public Internet cafes - about €1-2 per hour."

Foreign data costs will be swallowed up easily in travel budgets, said Bubley, coming in at less than taxi fares and restaurant bills. The only reason to use a European hotspot is for users who need more data, or are in places where 3G coverage is poor, he observed. Ironically, 3G coverags is at its poorest in the conference rooms in the basements of hotels that extort money for business Wi-Fi, he observes.

http://www.techworld.com/mobility/news/index.cfm?newsid=8302&pagtype=all

[solo12002]

God this is great. But weres the F the decent data charges for ppl using their mobiles in the UK.

Once again Vodafone is missing the b@@@ly point!

[3GScottishUser]

Yes they have left out the consumer market somewhat..... but they have the largest footprint of any 3G operator in Europe and it makes sense for them to try and make some money from those who will pay to gain access to services using datacards and phones as modems for work purposes. Let's face it the 3G handset related stuff has not captured the immagination of most consumers.

This move is a shrewd one. Not the handset restricted limited interest type offer that 3 and T-Mobile provide, nor as flexible as T-Mobile's Web'N'Walk pro. Its really quite different and at €12 a day I think they could be onto something... even as a holidaymaker I could see myself using my laptop of an evening rather than racing down to a cyber cafe. For a business person its a winner as they can forget costly roaming rates and get on with the job for a little more than £8 a day.

Vodafone appear to have identified a real prospect for 3G data and now intend to exploit it. I'm sure they will make similar moves on the consumer market if/when it is proven there is sufficient demand.

[getti]

T-Mobile's Web n Walk is a MUCH better data offering and they have deals with many international networks for GPRS use.

Business customers have had their data slashed to £3 per mb and this will be the same for normal customers by the summer.

Wont be long until its done away with all togather so if you are roaming on a T-Mobile network it comes out of your free allowance

[3GScottishUser]

Since when was £3 a MB better than £8 for 50 MB with 3G coverage like Vodafone have?

Let me do the wee sum: £3 X 50 = £150 vs £8 for the same thing!!!

Hmmmm.... I know which data deal I'd go with.

Vodafone's own networks cover most popular locations in Europe and GPRS is'nt a compeditor as it's so slow (64Kb/s).

This business deal is a real Wi-Fi alternative and probably for the first time pitches 3G as a real option with a REAL benefit that can be justified.

[Hands0n]

Hang on, some pricing gaffe here .....

T-Mobile's Web N Walk Pro is £12.50 per month for 3GB of data. If you need more then there is Web N Walk Max with 40GB of data per month.
Their PAYG data is capped at £1 for up to 40MB per day (midnight to midnight). How is any of that more expensive than Vodafone or anyone else?

T-Mobile is simply the cheapest 3G data provider in the UK at present.

I contend that T-Mobile's Web N Walk is good enough for business use [in the UK] as it is not only available to ordinary 3G handsets but also HSDPA handsets and data cards. Looking at the Business section of T-Mobile's website the price plans for Web N Walk [in all of its variants] is akin to that for the Retail customer.

[Ben]

...I was under the impression that this is roaming data getti, Hands0n. In which case Vodafone just made using data abroad affordable for SME's and not just the super-rich.

This is probably a good sign for things to come in terms of UK pricing, but who knows.

[3GScottishUser]

Some further information re this new initiative from The Times:

Vodafone moved today to stave off a threatened crackdown on the “very high” charges for sending text messages and downloading music while abroad by promising new cut-rate tariffs.

The mobile giant pledged to strike new wholesale deals with other operators that would result in “significantly lower” data “roaming” rates from July.

The group will now charge other network operators a maximum of €0.50 for 200kb of data.

At present the average cost of one megabyte is €3 to €4.

It is also to introduce a new flat-rate tariff for users of laptop data cards.

The move comes ahead of a meeting tomorrow of Europe’s telecoms ministers to finalise details of new legislation aimed at slashing costs on mobile calls made abroad by up to 70 per cent.

The Commission is seeking to set price caps with a maximum price of 11p a minute for receiving calls, 34p a minute for calling home and 23p a minute for calls within a country.

The cuts should take effect from the end of June.

Viviane Reding, the Commissioner for Information, Society and Media, who is spearheading the changes, is threatening to force down data charges, too.

Earlier today she attacked the costs for sending texts and downloading music and other data while abroad as “very high”.

Mobile operators should voluntarily reduce their prices or “risk [that] these charges also need to be regulated.”

Internet access has come to be a standard feature on mobiles.

Users can access the net on 2.5G phones using so-called GRPS technology or on a "next-generation" 3G mobile or data card.

But some mobile companies charge up to 25 times the amount they charge in the UK for mobile data services abroad.

Simply downloading a few songs or e-mails on the beach can trigger an astronomical bill.

Consumer groups assert that the phone companies are exploiting the nascent technology to crank up charges before people wake up to the costs.

Finding details about data tariffs, they complain, is often difficult.

Mobile companies have fiercely resisted the imposed cuts to call charges and are set to resist data rules in the same way.

They have argued that competition is enough to bring down prices.

They have also sought to defend the surcharges on calls made from abroad by saying that it is still cheaper to use a mobile than to use a hotel phone.

A spokesman for O2 said it hoped that legislation on data charges did not have to be introduced.

It was, it said, voluntarily “working through a number of pricing plans to reduce data plans for UK consumers”.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article1516231.ece

[Hands0n]

...I was under the impression that this is roaming data getti, Hands0n. In which case Vodafone just made using data abroad affordable for SME's and not just the super-rich.

This is probably a good sign for things to come in terms of UK pricing, but who knows.

Ah, good point. Yes, indeed it is a good option for data roamers. I'd consider using it at a pinch in my own personal capacity. But it is more expensive than a session at a local Internet cafe - what is really needed is a flat level playing field for people to be able to roam for voice and data no matter what their status. The voume sale should more than compensate for any loss of premium-rate charge for businesses. Even so, they'd find existing businesses willing to use the service more rather than ration it out as I've seen in even the largest of corporates. The Wal Mart sales method of stack 'em high sell 'em cheap has yet to be realised by the mobile operators, although they do seem to be moving in that direction albeit ever slowly.

[Hands0n]

" ..... working through ......" What a typical bit of foot-dragging only to be expected from the operators. They really cannot see the big picture of high volume low cost sales of data - stuck in their timewarp of Premium tariffs for data. All power to Vivianne Reding - I hope that she rattles these operators out of their complacency. They have proven over the past quarter of a century that they simply cannot be trusted to self-regulate and offer credible tariffs to Customers - all of which, ironically, has a negative impact on their own business model, if they could but see it!

[Ben]

The group will now charge other network operators a maximum of €0.50 for 200kb of data.

At present the average cost of one megabyte is €3 to €4.
LMAO!

So, erm, 1MB is approximately 1000KB.

5x €0.50 = €2.50 per megabyte.

That's a whopping wholesale reduction of 50ec a megabyte, boys and girls. Not exactly moving mountains.

And if the wholesale cost per megabyte is just a few euros, how are the networks getting away with charging about ten pounds at the moment?!

*screws face up*