Vodafone UK - all change for the Mobile Internet

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Just announced by Vodafone UK, a brand new Vodafone Live web-squeezing portal (rebranded Google Mobile?), better access to popular webmail accounts and much cheaper data charges for all, effectively including £1 for up to 15MB(!) for prepay customers and £7.50 for 120MB per month for contract customers. The full press release follows...

Vodafone Mobile Internet available today

06 June 2007

  • Millions of customers able to access the internet on their mobiles, whenever and wherever they like
  • Unique technology tailors sites to ensure excellent representation of the fixed internet on mobiles
  • Partnerships with major brands - Google, eBay, YouTube, MySpace, Yahoo! Mail - gives customers their internet favourites in their hands
  • All major web email accounts brought together for first time in mass market personal push email service

From today, millions of Vodafone UK customers will be able to access all of their favourite internet sites from their mobile phones.

Vodafone Mobile Internet will ensure an accurate representation of the internet on a mobile, allowing customers to replicate on their handsets what they can do on the computer - from updating their MySpace profile, through sending and receiving emails with AOL, Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail amongst others, to buying and selling on eBay.

Vodafone customers will experience a significant improvement in the way they access the internet from their phones, coupled with the confidence and freedom to surf whenever and wherever they want without having to worry about the cost thanks to easy-to-understand, great value pricing.

It's not necessary for most customers to upgrade their mobiles. An innovation on the Vodafone network will take pages designed for the computer, compress them by up to ten times on average and turn them into mobile-friendly content, making them easy to read on over 150 handsets without losing any of the information, or the design. When coupled with the new pricing structure, customers can now easily move anywhere they want on the Mobile Internet.

As well as the modifications to pricing, the mobile portal has changed to an intuitive, new design that enables customers to confidently explore the richness of the Mobile Internet with Vodafone's Google search prominently displayed. There is also quick access to account details and an area to store links to favourite sites. "Favourites" can be saved by clicking on the "bookmark" icon on any page on the Mobile Internet or by pressing a "mobile favourites" button while on the computer which will ensure that the address is sent to the phone. Customer can also enter the address via their handsets.

"Vodafone Mobile Internet will revolutionise the way our customers use the internet," says Nick Read, CEO of Vodafone UK. "They now have the freedom to explore a much wider world on an extensive range of handsets, experiencing the familiarity of the internet they previously enjoyed via a computer.

"The service is both easy to use and personalise, allowing millions of customers to make the most of their time. For example, eBay customers could miss out on bids because they are not at their computers at the vital moment. With Vodafone Mobile Internet they need never lose out as they can bid from their mobile phones while on the move.

"Vodafone has also introduced great value pricing to encourage use of the Mobile Internet."

Contract customers:
Customers signing up to a data pack will pay £7.50, giving them up to 120MB of data for mobile internet use per month. If customers use more than 120MB they will be charged in the same way as customers who have not signed up for the pack (see below).

A customer not signing up to a data pack will pay £1 for 500KB of usage each day. Usage of less than 500KB will incur a proportionately lower charge. Once the customer goes over 500KB they will experience no further costs until they have used 15MB.

Prepay customers:
Pay As You Talk customers will be charged in the same way as a contract customer who has not signed up to a monthly data pack. They will pay £1 for 500KB of usage each day. Usage of less than 500KB will incur a proportionately lower charge. Once the customer goes over 500KB they will experience no further costs until they have used 15MB.

Special Vodafone live! charges:
With content purchased from Vodafone live! there is no extra downloading or streaming cost.

Earlier this year Vodafone announced a series of agreements with some of the world's major internet brands including eBay, Google, MySpace, Yahoo! and YouTube. By partnering with these household names, customers are no longer limited to their computer for a rich, fulfilling, integrated internet experience. They can move seamlessly between the computer and the mobile, ensuring that they can maximise their time wherever they are.

Although Vodafone UK is bringing the best of breed to the internet with these initial partnerships, more can be expected. Top quality content across sport, news, entertainment and shopping will continue to be available through Vodafone live!.