Vodafone UK offers 500MB free data on all On Account plans!

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sbiddle

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#21648 3-May-2008 09:12

Vodafone UK have announced that from the 1st May all On Account plans will now have 500MB of data for free. They do call this "unlimited" but it does have a fair usage policy of 500MB - obviously they do need a lesson however on the meaning of "unlimited"..

Come on VFNZ - how about offering us better value on our data plans here and actually doing something to encourage data uptake? Group have finally realised that the "walled garden" is a failure, when are you going to wake up to this as well?

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#128113 3-May-2008 09:30

sbiddle: Vodafone UK have announced that from the 1st May all On Account plans will now have 500MB of data for free. They do call this "unlimited" but it does have a fair usage policy of 500MB - obviously they do need a lesson however on the meaning of "unlimited"..

Come on VFNZ - how about offering us better value on our data plans here and actually doing something to encourage data uptake? Group have finally realised that the "walled garden" is a failure, when are you going to wake up to this as well?

All these high-end devices such as the Nokia N-series aren't being totally utilised because of the high data costs. If VFNZ offered something like the above, I am sure the sales of high-end devices and the uptake of internet surfing etc would increase = more money for VF. Really a win-win for all.

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#128114 3-May-2008 09:38

Interesting the price is still up there though, starting at 25 pounds that's about NZ$60.00 I get 400MB for $49.95 (that's with the $10.00 insurance thingy). But yeah data pricing in NZ is silly, compared to my home country Indonesia, which is a 'developing' country not a 'developed' country.

Edit: eek I did not read the announcement properly. If it is $60.00 worth of voice calls comes with 500MB plan, wow that's great! Still tho, NZ needs better pricing.

mikal

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#128117 3-May-2008 09:47

We can play ping pong with Vodafone NZ not giving us these sought of deals but really when it comes down to it, its just economics.
We need more competition and hopefully the 3rd carrier will bring prices down but until then we have to pay the price for being a small nation.

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#128139 3-May-2008 11:37

But the 2nd and 3rd GSM/UMTS carriers aren't going to have the data footprint Vodafone have . . . .
not for a while anyway.

500MB is excessive for a phone, I'd be happy with 100-200MB, thats more than enough for push email, the odd web site etc.

NZtechfreak

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#128146 3-May-2008 12:17

500MB excessive? You have to realise that everyones use differs.

I can easily use 1.5-2GB of data a month on my N95 - its not hard between push email, a full web browser (replete with youtube), applications for saving youtube videos to the phone, downloading files over the net from my home PC (for instance to add a few different albums to the music player when I feel the need), using the Citrix web-server to access works network from wherever, a smattering of A-GPS charges, using the phone as a modem when the home connection gets throttled or while out and about (also sharing the connection with others via Joiku-spot, which turns the phone into a WiFi hotspot), uploading photos from the phone direct to Flickr and Ovi (video, and live video streaming too), uploading route data from the sports tracker etc etc

So for me 500MB is in fact insufficient, which is why I pay Vodafone's exhorbitant data charges for a 3GB plan.

Be careful making assumptions about what data usage on a phone looks like, as people realise what phones can do, and devices like the N95 drop in price, it'll only increase.

EDIT: Forgot to add: internet radio, podcast downloads, track downloads from Nokia's UK music store, N-Gage downloads and socialising, playing Quake and Quake II on the Quakeworld servers from the phone, and of course the all the calls/IMs on the data plan via Truphone and Fring/Skype.

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scottjpalmer

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#128153 3-May-2008 12:34

Yes I also have a substantial data plan on my phone, have done for years, but to expect free data to cover all of our needs for those of us that are heavy users is reasonably unfair - a smaller amount of data free to cover 90% of users needs is far more likely to be implemented leaving Vodafone the chance to up-sell data plans to the heavier users.

If I had the chance to pay somewhere between the 15MB and the 200MB plans for say 100MB (or have it free!!) I would be far more likely to have a data card style device for my laptop with a multiple GB data account - phone as a modem is convienient but also a hassle.

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NZtechfreak

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#128156 3-May-2008 12:51

Whoever said that I was saying I expected free data to cover all my use? Not me.

I agree with what you're saying in your second post though, easier to implement in NZ with a lower data limit and upselling to ridiculous data-users such as myself, I would welcome that.

How is the phone as a modem a hassle? Phone has bluetooth on, open my bluetooth places, double click the shortcut to dial-up networking, couple of seconds later I'm online. Can still use the phone to call/text whatever while its being used as a modem. This doesn't seem like much more of a hassle than plugging a Vodem in, opening the modem software, and clicking connect....

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scottjpalmer

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#128159 3-May-2008 13:03

Yes but over bluetooth you are severely restricted in speed. That is convienient yes, USB cable to get better speed isn't so much.

NZtechfreak

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#128175 3-May-2008 13:48

I get 100K/s on bluetooth, good enough for when its needed. I actually think USB is slower?

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scottjpalmer

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#128176 3-May-2008 13:57

Nah I get the full 2.5MB/s + using USB

Anyway we are venturing off topic a little, my bad!

Yes some free data would be great please VodaNZ :-)

ninjabear

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#128181 3-May-2008 14:07

500MB is certainly not excessive

I can use 500mb in within 4hours on PC
I mean with my nokia N82 surfing the net is equivalent to a PC

Bring on higher data cap and lower the cost!

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#128182 3-May-2008 14:07

NZtechfreak: I get 100K/s on bluetooth, good enough for when its needed. I actually think USB is slower?

No way USB2 is way quicker than bluetooth

sbiddle

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#128192 3-May-2008 14:30

NZtechfreak: I get 100K/s on bluetooth, good enough for when its needed. I actually think USB is slower?

Most Bluetooth connections are limited to 115.2k - that's only double the speed of dialup.

USB cables are going to deliver full speed (and potentially up to several hundred Mbps).

IMHO the easiest way to use your phone as a modem is to use Joiku which turns your phone into a WiFi hotspot. It's absolutely brilliant!

scottjpalmer

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#128193 3-May-2008 14:34

Not so great when I need UMTS900 and the only device available doesn't have WiFi :-)

NZtechfreak

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#128205 3-May-2008 15:16

Well I get 100K/s, as in approximately 17xdialup, but yes this is a little off topic.

So how about it Vodafone? How about 200MB for everyone on plan? Get everyone used to using their mobiles for data eh? I mean look at all the stuff I do with my phone - imagine if the masses started to learn about doing all that? It all starts with giving them some data to play around with...

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