Voda have announced a number of things this morning, but the one that will have caught your eye is the roaming charges change. The network is to remove all additional charges in 40 foreign destinations. A lot of these are European countries and these charges were due to be dropped following new European law, but Voda have also added the Channel Islands, Switzerland and Turkey. Oh, and the changes happen today, so you won’t have to wait.
If you’re going further afield, then 60 other “Roam-further” destinations will cost £5 per day. Vodafone now provides 4G roaming in 117 destinations worldwide. They’re also keen to have a little dig at the Three alternative (Feel At Home) by saying that the Vodafone option offers full 4G roaming with no limit on data usage or speeds
when abroad.
In other news, Vodafone are also bringing out “Flexible upgrades” which will let you upgrade to a new phone after only six months.
There’s also new monthly plans which offer customers more data and a new artificial intelligence (AI) chat bot called “TOBi” which should help speed up online chat queries. If that doesn’t float your boat then the network, like EE, has also announced thousands more UK call centre staff.
Nick Jeffery, Vodafone UK CEO told us…
Our new programme will do that over the next few years and will prove our commitment to letting our customers talk, text or stream for a great price, wherever in the world they may be.
Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at uSwitch.com, tells us..
With EU roaming charges due to be abolished for UK customers as of 15 June and with uncertainty over what Brexit will mean for roaming charges in the longer term, Vodafone are firing the starting gun ahead of time, keen to steal a march on its rivals and put their current customers at ease.
The axing of roaming charges to the 40 countries listed below is effective from today, which is excellent news for those taking a trip abroad before June 15th.
The full list of inclusive worry-free roaming countries…..
Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Channel Islands (Jersey & Guernsey), Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (inc. Faroe Islands), Estonia, Finland, France (inc. Corsica), French Territories, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Italy (inc. Vatican City), Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal (inc. Azores & Madeira), Republic of Ireland, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (inc. Balearic Islands), Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
VODAFONE UK LAUNCHES INCLUSIVE ROAMING ACROSS 40 DESTINATIONS
6th May 2016
Vodafone customers can now stream and share their holiday moments thanks to worry-free inclusive roaming across 40 destinations* and enjoy 4G in 93 destinations worldwide – that’s more than any other UK mobile provider
Unlimited calls, texts and picture messages and a monthly data allowance of up to 4GB within our inclusive roaming zone for new and upgrading Pay Monthly Red and Red Value bundles**
With our Vodafone 30 Day Network Guarantee, customers have 30 days to try us, love us or leave us – with no strings attached
We all know how important holidays are for wellbeing purposes but what could really let your lilo down is coming home to a large ‘roaming surprise’ on your next bill – which could easily undo all of that relaxing goodness. So, as of today, we’ve introduced worry-free inclusive roaming in 40 destinations for all our new and upgrading Pay Monthly 12 & 24 month Red and Red Value bundles. The new bundles will have unlimited roaming calls, texts and picture messages with a generous monthly data allowance of up to 4GB also included, all of which can be enjoyed from Norway to Turkey and almost everywhere in between*.
Customers now have the freedom to enjoy high quality un-throttled streaming, video calling, texts and picture messages as well as calls to standard landlines and mobiles anywhere across our inclusive roaming zone without any additional charges. We’ve closely monitored our customer roaming data and know that over 80 percent of all overseas trips taken by our Pay monthly customers are within our new inclusive roaming zone. So, with 4G in more destinations than any other UK mobile provider combined with monthly allowances of up to 4GB data, customers can stream, snap and share their holiday moments to their hearts, and their wallets, content.
With our generous inclusive data allowances customers can enjoy the benefits of roaming freely to check in, check out and keep in touch with loved ones whilst away, safe in the knowledge they have complete control over their spending. If they start to approach their monthly roaming data allowance, they will be given the power to decide what happens next – add extra data, move to a larger bundle or move onto Vodafone world rates: it really is up to them.
Glafkos Persianis, Commercial Director at Vodafone UK says: “Our customers made it clear to us that they wanted the freedom to use their phones worry free whilst abroad and we have listened – so now, all new and upgrading Red pay monthly customers** will be able to stay in touch with their loved ones easily whilst they’re on holiday. And that’s not all, Red Value Bundle customers who have chosen to take advantage of our Spotify Premium entertainment pack will can take their tunes to the pool and beyond when they go roaming – completely worry-free. With inclusive roaming across 40 destinations – we really are making Vodafone the home of worry-free roaming.”
Prices for our new 12 month SIM only bundles start from as little as £9.50 per month and inclusive roaming starts at £18 per month. On our 1GB Red Bundle, the Huawei P9 is available from £28 a month (with £10 upfront cost) giving customers unlimited calls, texts and 1GB of UK data plus unlimited calls, texts and 500MB data to use whilst in our inclusive roaming zones. Also available on this bundle is the Samsung Galaxy S7 for £42 a month (with £20 upfront cost). For an additional £6 per month customers can enjoy four times the roaming data and double the UK data to include 2GB on both.
Notes to editors:
*Inclusive roaming: Available to new Pay Monthly 12 & 24 month Red and Red Value bundles customers. Includes a monthly roaming allowance of calls to standard mobiles and landlines, texts, picture messages and data within our inclusive roaming zone. For destinations included and charges if you opt into standard rates or exceed your bundle allowance see http://www.vodafone.co.uk/explore/costs/travelling-abroad/.
Destinations covered by our Inclusive Roaming zones:
Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Channel Islands (Jersey & Guernsey), Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark (inc. Faroe Islands), Estonia, Finland, France (inc. Corsica), French Territories, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Italy (inc. Vatican City), Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal (inc. Azores & Madeira), Republic of Ireland, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (inc. Balearic Islands), Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
**Not including 30 Day SIM Only and Mobile Broadband bundles
