This is certainly a good move... and will be even better when it's on the personal plans.

As will eSim support. Drum. Bang.

Tsk... Give you guys an inch...

So currently lets say in the USA it costs $0.44 to receive a call per minute. I might take 1-2 calls per day max 5 minutes. I use a local sim for my data. So my roaming charges will now be $7 per day instade of say $2? I'm away for 3 weeks so $5x 21 days = additional $105 in roaming charges?

Is there an opt-out?

Zeon:

 

So currently lets say in the USA it costs $0.44 to receive a call per minute. I might take 1-2 calls per day max 5 minutes. I use a local sim for my data. So my roaming charges will now be $7 per day instade of say $2? I'm away for 3 weeks so $5x 21 days = additional $105 in roaming charges?

 

Is there an opt-out?

 

No, there is no way to opt out. If you only wanted to make an occasional call and never use data then you still have the option of VoWifi. Having said that, remember that your $105 or whatever of roaming charges now means you have the ability to use your data in the USA too, so you're not limited to huddling in the nearest Starbucks to leach their Wifi.

SaltyNZ:

 

Zeon:

 

So currently lets say in the USA it costs $0.44 to receive a call per minute. I might take 1-2 calls per day max 5 minutes. I use a local sim for my data. So my roaming charges will now be $7 per day instade of say $2? I'm away for 3 weeks so $5x 21 days = additional $105 in roaming charges?

 

Is there an opt-out?

 

 

 

 

No, there is no way to opt out. If you only wanted to make an occasional call and never use data then you still have the option of VoWifi. Having said that, remember that your $105 or whatever of roaming charges now means you have the ability to use your data in the USA too, so you're not limited to huddling in the nearest Starbucks to leach their Wifi.

 

So usually I take 2x phones with me, one with a local SIM card and another with my 2degrees sim card. I have started using the Spark roaming for $15 for 7 days in lieu of the local sim as 1GB is usually good enough between wifi. However I have found that in many places it has signal but doesn't work or is incredibly slow (same if I try with 2degrees roaming - it jut doesn't work even with full bars). This happens in certain parts of a town usually such as airports are pretty common or places with lots of people it seems. This is partly why I buy a local sim card as they tend to be more reliable. I haven't tried VoWifi but presume I could hotspot one phone to another? Not sure about the qualtiy, especially if on a roaming sim though.

No opt-out does really suck. My last trip I arrived back from on Saturday I was away 28 days and say I took even 1 phone call (and couldn't use VoWifi) per day then my $50/month plan (with say an extra $20 for incoming roaming calls) with 2degrees becomes (28 x $7) another $200 per month?

I applaud new initiatives on pricing but if you make it mandatory and don't think about this type of situation the clients will. I strongly suggest this is made as an optional service.

This how Vodafone daily roaming has worked for the last 7ish years. Over that entire time I've seen maybe half a dozen people complain about the way it works.

I can't speak to marketing specifics but it would be my general assumption that businesses are more interested in price certainty than absolute lowest price. If you take your business phone most places overseas now, your boss knows the biggest bill he's going to get is $7 for every day you are there. Previously, you could have come home with thousands of dollars in charges for a single day's visit just by accidentally leaving data turned on, even though you could keep it down to $5 for the whole trip if you were super-disciplined.

If $7 a day is still too expensive, there's nothing stopping you buying a local SIM when you arrive.

Thats a huge thing for me. The irony was it came the day after I was having serious conversations about switching from VF to 2D for mobile and the Australia roaming was the only negative. Now its a massive positive as for Australia its now FREE. 

Thats actually quite massive for me as we often went as a family of four and if we all did it thats going from $28 per day to nothing and thats a huge convenience to be able to carry on using our phones without worrying.

On signal I haven't used it much yet - Only played with a phone on a Pre-pay sim and already I've found I'm free to wander the house while talking where previously with Vodafone I've had to stand very still in one spot and not so much as tilt my head. Interestingly VF and 2D both show as 2 bars on an Iphone (I know that could potentially be 26% on VF and 49% on 2D) but its so noticeably better.

I'm sure I'm going to run into locations where I notice the signal is weak but the only time this will negatively affect me is on a job at a clients and being out of contact but I can just hop on their Wifi network and use Wifi calling :)

Keep up the good work 2 Degrees - Vodafone have become particularly stagnant lately and couldn't improve on plans I've had for 2 years for five phone so hence why I jumped :)