Vodafone UK adds unlimited data to contract accounts

[slitchfield]

Well, almost. Here's the release, also pasted below the break. 'Unlimited' in this context means 500MB a month, but it's now going to be included for all pay monthly customers, i.e. there's no need to pay for an additional Internet bundle. A great move by Vodafone UK and one which simplifies their tariffs significantly.

Read on in the full article.

[stuclark]

It's a pity that most UK networks are still selling these severely limited data packages as "unlimited" when in fact they are nothing like unlimited.

DO NOT ever go above your monthly allowance (500MB in this case) as the charges for doing so are purely rediculous. Voda's latest charges are £2 per MB when over the allowance.

The only two UK networks to offer anything like true unlimited data are 3 and T-Mobile, and of these only T-Mobile won't charge you extra for going over the allowance (which is a minimum of 1GB per month, depending on tarrif)

[ajck]

This IS a great move by Vodafone, and will encourage more people onto the internet on their mobiles. Unfortunately however, they are still deploying a Novarra transcoder which ruins mobile web sites with it's poor transcoding and blocking of the user agent string in the HTTP headers which otherwise would enable mobile content providers to detect the handset and deliver the right content.

This is how badly Novarra ruin even a PC-website during the transcoding process: http://wurfl.sourceforge.net/vodafon...wsj/nigel.html

And this is the developer manifesto that asks transcoder vendors and operators to play fair - and is widely supported by mobile developers and other leading transcoder vendors, but not, noticeably, by Novarra (or ByteMobile).
http://wurfl.sourceforge.net/manifesto/

[bartmanekul]

Very dissapointed by this, a decent data package was well overdue by Vodafone, but now they release this 'unlimited' laugh?

500mb is a lot for many, but little for others. And Vodafone have a history of massive data bills given to the unwary.

By advertising unlimited and still having no warning system as when your near/over the limit, Im sure many people will be caught out.

Does anyone know if this comes into effect for current contracts?

Can someone explain why mobile data costs so very much. My line based ISP charges £2 per gig over base useage and Vodafone charge £2 per meg the logic of which escapes me.

I'm sold!!!

My next contract is going to be with Vodafone.

I'm currently on T-Mobile with web n walk but most people are probably aware in terms getting a good signal:

Vodafone & o2 > Orange > T-Moible > 3

The problem with having poor signal means you get poor data transfer rates too.

This is a great move by Vodafone, but please stop calling things unlimited when they're not! I expect it from Vodafone's marketing department, but not from AAS.

I'm on Three's 1GB/month tariff and that certainly isn't unlimited.

[krisse]

Can someone explain why mobile data costs so very much. My line based ISP charges £2 per gig over base useage and Vodafone charge £2 per meg the logic of which escapes me.

Well, to some extent it is more expensive because mobile phone towers don't have as much capacity as the landline or cable networks which ISPs use.

However, £2 per meg is still far too expensive when you compare prices for similar services from country to country.

'Unlimited' in this context means 500MB a month

So, in terms of the english language, "unlimited" is a lie then? There is actually a very clear limit on how much you can use it?

I cannot understand how networks get away with such blatantly misleading advertising.

Surely the ASA or trading standards should be putting a stop to this?

Here in Finland unlimited does actually mean unlimited, there are absolutely no caps on unlimited mobile data deals. The only restriction I've ever come across is no p2p, but that's hardly a major problem on a mobile phone.

[bartmanekul]

Krisse, it would be OFCOM that usually deals with these sort of things.

And OFCOM has already had complaints about the use of the term 'unlimited', for both ISP and mobile provider claims.

OFCOM has ruled that its ok to use it, as the 'fair use policy' (FUP) seems to be a get around.

It really annoys me, especially when you see people on forums asking what to do about huge data bills.

I have asked the FIT135 team that frequent forums many times to see about initiating some sort of warning for nearing or going over whatever data limit you have. It seems Vodafone dont want to know, presumably because they make large amounts of money from misadvertising.

[st3ph3n]

Pretty poor that existing customers wont get this until they upgrade :(

[bartmanekul]

Is that confirmed yet?

[williamsardar]

Is that true? Will existing customers have this offer available to them?

[Jono]

I just spoke to customer services and was told it would be considered a change of contract and would require a new commitment period.

[Jay3gsm]

For existing customers, if you already have the data bundle at 7.50 a month, your limit is automatically updated to the 500MB fair use limit.

If you actually want to take one of the new tariffs, with their different amounts of minutes and text too, then anyone who has been on their contract for 9 months or more can change.

Anyone who has been on their current deal for less than 9 months must wait, or make an extra 6 month contract commitment to their current deal, as per the current T's & C's of your contract.

I've just noted that Orange now offer 250mb as part of their panther deal, as an option on the contract rather than a bundle. It's added to the choice of unlimited landline / unlimited txt etc and does not constitute a change of contract.