Vodafone will cut its flat-rate tariffs for laptop-based data usage in the UK, and it will also refresh its data-roaming tariffs.
The mobile operator said on Monday that it will replace its Vodafone Data Unlimited tariff — £45 per month with a fair usage cap of 1GB — with the Mobile Broadband tariff, priced at £25 per month with a 3GB cap.
Subscribers to this monthly tariff will be able to buy 24 hours of HSDPA or 3G connectivity in certain countries for £8.50. The countries covered are mostly European, but also include the US, Australia and Japan.
There is also a separate 24-hour tariff for £8.50 for those who want to use mobile data in the UK without taking out a monthly subscription.
Customers wanting to use Vodafone datacards or USB modems abroad on a regular basis can use the Mobile Broadband Travel tariff, previously called Vodafone Data Travel. Still priced at £95 per month, the tariff has had its data limit doubled from 100MB to 200MB. As with all Vodafone's data-roaming tariffs, going beyond the limit incurs a fee of £4.25 per megabyte. The tariff covers far more countries than under the ad-hoc roaming usage of the plain Mobile Broadband tariff.
Kyle Whitehill, Vodafone UK's director of enterprise business, called the tariffs "ground-breaking" and said the operator was the "market leader in 3G broadband and as such has a responsibility to the customer to continually harness this insight to innovate and improve our Mobile Connect service".
Unlike Vodafone's data-usage policies for handheld devices, these tariffs all come with no restrictions on what applications can be used — thus permitting the use of internet telephony and instant messaging.
The changes will come into effect on 2 July.
