Vodafone moves on data roaming prices

UK-based carrier Vodafone has unveiled a cross border roaming initiative that it says will bring simpler and lower pricing for smartphone and mobile data usage for customers travelling within Europe.

Amid regulatory pressure to reduce the retail cost of mobile data usage while abroad, Vodafone said its new, simple and transparent pricing provides daily and monthly rates for customers to use their domestic handset data plans overseas.

Those customers who travel occasionally can take a domestic data plan abroad for only €2 per day, which the operator claims represents a cost reduction of up to 60 per cent over existing plans and includes an increase to the data allowance. In the package users receive 50MB data allowance when roaming on all prepaid and postpaid plans across Vodafone’s European countries plus Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and France.

Alternatively, frequent travellers can select to take a price plan which includes 25MB per day data roaming within their monthly domestic package of £40 and above, or for an additional £10 if the package is below £30.

The new plans are being rolled-out in Vodafone’s major European markets during November and December, in time for the winter holiday season, and across the Company’s entire European footprint by summer 2011.

Vodafone CEO, Vittorio Colao, said: “This is the year of the smartphone and we want our 35 million European data users to feel free to use their devices in Europe in the same way as they do at home. We expect smartphone sales in Europe to grow from 32 per cent today to more than 70 per cent by 2013, and we want to drive that growth with what we believe to be the best value, market-leading roaming data packages.”