Vodafone launches bundled Web tariffsInternet charges to be folded into monthly price plans; fair usage policy applies.
Vodafone Thursday announced it is to begin bundling unlimited Internet access with its existing monthly tariffs in a bid to reduce the confusion over mobile data charging.
Until now Vodafone’s contract customers paid an additional fee of £7.50 for Internet access, but now it will be included as part of its existing price plans, which start at £25.
“Customers who select a £40 or higher price plan will also for the first time have the choice of unlimited texts, unlimited landline calls or unlimited Vodafone to Vodafone calls,” said the operator.
Vodafone said a fair usage policy of 500 megabytes per month applies, but pointed out that browsing 50 Web pages would only use on average approximately 1 megabyte.
According to the operator, streaming three 90 second video clips from YouTube would be equivalent to 4.5 megabytes.
Confusion over data pricing in the U.K. market has long been seen as a key barrier to the uptake of mobile Internet services.
Still, all of the country’s major mobile network operators (MNOs) have been working to clear up the confusion by launching their respective flat-rate data tariffs.
In the same announcement, Vodafone said the top five most viewed sites on its mobile Internet service are Facebook, Google, BBC, MSN and Bebo.
“Favourites for customers include quick access to Facebook, MySpace or Bebo to share pictures and news, YouTube to check out videos on the move, and fast connections to eBay to make that last minute bid,” said Vodafone.
Meanwhile comparison site Broadband Expert this week revealed that mobile broadband access speeds experienced by consumers are still slower than those advertised by operators.
Download speeds ranged from 2.3 Mbps on Vodafone to 1.1 Mbps on T-Mobile, and 1 Mbps for 3UK customers, said Broadband Expert in a statement.
“Vodafone clocked by far the fastest download speeds, though advertising for their latest offering promises much faster speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps,” the firm said.
