Vodafone's "unlimited" mobile data offer comes with a big catch

Stephen Withers
Monday, 17 December 2007 03:44

Your IT - Mobility

he headline on the press release was "Vodafone customers get unlimited data access on mobile", but that's not exactly what you get.

What the company's offering is a pair of reasonably-priced add-ons for mobile phone accounts that provide unmetered use of a very small number of web sites and mail and instant messaging services.

$A8 per month buys unlimited access to YouTube, eBay, MySpace and RSVP, or you can get a 'day pass' to a single site (excluding YouTube) for $A1. YouTube is only available on 3G phones and in 3G coverage areas.

"It’s simple: customers want access to their favourite sites on their mobile, without paying a fortune, and this is what we’re delivering," said Arthur Panos, Head of Infotainment at Vodafone Australia.

That's only true if Vodafone's correctly guessed your list of favourite sites. YouTube and eBay are way down my list, and RSVP doesn't figure at all.

If the company had let people nominate any three sites, then it would be a very useful offer. As it is, I'll pass, thanks very much.

The email and Instant Messenger pack is a better deal at $A5 per month for unlimited use, even though it is restricted to Hotmail and Yahoo!7 for email, and to Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo!7 Messenger for IM.

Your choice of IM is largely driven by the one used by your colleagues and friends, but there's nothing stopping you from setting up a Hotmail or Yahoo!7 mail account and arranging for all your other email accounts to automatically forward copies of all incoming messages.

The email and IM pack is also offered for $A1 per day.

Subscribing to both packs reduces the total price to $9.95 per month. The first month is free for each of the packs.

"With simple pricing and unlimited monthly access, Vodafone customers will be in control of their monthly spend," said Panos, and I'll agree with him on that point.