The website of Alex Kinch, live from London
Posts tagged Vodafone
Beware of Vodafone and Verizon ‘your credit balance is over its limit’ emails
Nov 15th
There’s a deluge of scam emails doing the rounds at the moment, purporting to be from Vodafone or Verizon with a subject of ‘your credit balance is over its limit’ – and containing a dangerous looking file purporting to be a balance checker that it says you should run.
Of course it’s not a genuine email, and the attached executable is malware – so you SHOULD NOT open the attachment, or click on any links.
The text of the ‘Vodafone’ email is similar to this:
Dear Vodafone customer,
Your credit balance is over its limit. Please use the attached Vodafone Balance Checker Tool to review and analyze your payments.Yours sincerely,
Vodafone Customer Services
And the ‘Verizon’ version:
Dear Verizon customer,
Your credit balance is over its limit. Please use the attached Verizon Balance Checker Tool to review and analyze your payments.Yours sincerely,
Verizon Customer Services
3 and Vodafone: Two roaming data cost cuts, two very different offers
Jul 6th
Why do mobile tariffs always seem to be overly complicated? With the recent July 1st EU charges cap there was a chance to make the cost of using data services abroad nice and simple. So how did the operators do? Let’s take two examples.
First, Vodafone. They announced a cut in roaming charges across the EU to £4.99 a day for up to 25MB. That works out, as the press release helpfully says, at the equivalent of 20p per MB. But wait, in true operator fashion there’s a little bit of a complicated twist.
That £4.99 a day deal is just for mobile data. Under 1MB Vodafone will charge you a per KB rate, with 100KB costing 50p. Go above a meg and you’ll instantly be charged £4.99 for the remaining 24MB. What happens after 25MB? You get charged another £4.99, and get another 25MB. And so on and so forth.
If you’re planning to use your mobile broadband dongle, that price doubles – but so does the inclusive data bundle. Whether the per KB charging for dongle usage remains is a little unclear, but you’ll be charged £9.99 for 50MB chunks of data. Again, this is all on a daily basis – so if you use 2MB of data every day for a week on your laptop it’ll end up costing a rather hefty £69.93.
If you venture outside of the Europe (Vodafone have defined all of Europe – whether it’s in the EU or not – as ‘zone 1′), it’s £14.99 per day per 25MB on your phone, or £29.99 per day per 50MB on your dongle.
At this point, I’d imagine even the more maths-savvy consumer is a bit lost in figures. Why can’t things just be simple – one price for data per megabyte whether it be on your laptop or mobile?
Cue 3 and their new charges. £1.25 per MB – no minimums, no bundles, no 24 hour windows and no differentiation between your phone or a dongle. A pricing model so simple that it takes one sentence to explain, versus four paragraphs. OK so it may be more expensive per megabyte if you’re a heavy user, but at least you don’t need a calculator and a calendar to work it all out.
The T-Mobile takeover rumour mill continues
Jul 6th
There was an interesting article in The Observer over the weekend, featuring an interview with Matthew Key, Chief Executive of O2.
Is he worried about being left out of the bidding war for Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile UK business unit? Quite probably, but he plays it quite cool. “We are watching developments closely, but if you’re asking me whether it’s consuming my time day and night, the answer is no,” he says. I’m entirely relaxed about the situation – no one is running around here like headless chickens.”
Meanwhile the Sunday Times reports Vodafone is talking to Deutsche Telekom about swapping it’s Turkish operation (formerly Telsim) for T-Mobile UK. To put that possibility into figures, Vodafone paid £2.6m for the Telsim operation in 2006, but has since written it down due to competition from Turkcell – the dominate player in the market. It could raise £1.5m of the projected £3m worth of T-Mobile UK by disposing of the Turkish unit.
Finally, the Daily Mail adds its usual dose of doom, gloom and ‘they’re all out to get us’ sensationalism with a report that says ‘Telecoms regulator Ofcom is warning potential bidders for T-Mobile that any takeover deal will face the toughest scrutiny, amid fears that it would lead to a sharp increase in prices for consumers.’
Happy days indeed, with sources close to Deutsche Telekom still claiming there’s ‘no rush’ to offload T-Mobile UK. With new MD Richard Moat (formerly of Orange) less than two months in the job there still may be time to avoid being swallowed up by a rival player. Speaking of Orange, they’re still in the frame for a deal with T-Mobile. Or not, if you believe the claims a possible deal was rejected a few weeks ago.
Vodafone and 3 cited in T-Mobile UK takeover dance
Jun 29th
It’s been another weekend of rumours over the future of T-Mobile UK – with reports that Vodafone and 3′s parent company might team up to launch a bid for the troubled UK mobile division of Deutsche Telekom.
The Financial Times claims that the Newbury-based operator has been sniffing around its rival, said to be worth between €3bn and €4bn – and may be considering teaming up with Hutchinson Whampoa – the parent company of 3 – to launch a bid.
Even if Vodafone went it alone, the combination the two operators in the UK market would give a market share of 40%, according to the BBC. Such a large chunk of subscribers would certainly ring alarm bells with the UK Competition Commission and the higher powers of the EU in Brussels – although the BBC says it’s not uncommon for operators to have such dominance in other European countries such as France and Spain.
Vodafone are not the first operator to be linked with a bid for T-Mobile. Previous rumours of interest by Orange were vehemently denied a few weeks ago after a reported rebuffal by Deutsche Telekom, plus there’s still the distinct possibility of a ‘mega-operator’ plan involving 3, Skype and T-Mobile – which I exclusively wrote about back in May.
Whatever the outcome, one fact remains – being a mobile operator is no longer the equivalent to having a licence to print money. Vodafone are currently going through a £1bn cost cutting plan after it recently announced a 53.5% fall in annual pre-tax profits from £9bn to £4.2bn, and Deutsche Telekom recently wrote off €1.8 billion on T-Mobile UK.
Carphone and Vodafone patch up relationship
Jun 7th
Carphone Warehouse are set to welcome Vodafone mobile contracts back into their stores after a three year break, according to reports.
The Times says discussions between Carphone Warehouse chairman Charles Dunstone and senior Vodafone management are at an advanced stage, with an announcement of a deal expected shortly.
Carphone Warehouse – which claims to offer an impartial service and not favour any one network – lost the right to sign up contract customers to Vodafone in 2006 after the operator signed an exclusive deal with rival Phones4U. Vodafone pre-pay packages – which Carphone still sells – were not affected by the deal.
Australian government approve Vodafone & 3 merger
Jun 4th
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has finally approved the merger of Vodafone and 3, according to reports.
According to WirelessFederation, the approval process took a little longer than expected as the ACCC had to spend time to investigate the operations of both companies in detail. Their conclusion? Such a merger wouldn’t damage market competition, and both companies probably wouldn’t be able to sustain a decent level of investment on their own.
The new venture, to be known as Vodafone-Hutchinson Australia, will be the third largest operator in the country – after Optus and Telstra – with a claimed combined subscriber base of around 6 million.
WirelessFederation quote ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel as saying “Ongoing investments are needed to meet the increased customer demand for bandwidth-hungry data services, including mobile broadband. In this respect, the ACCC considers that mobile voice and data services will continue to converge in the future”
Meanwhile, a short note on 3 Australia’s website says: “You may have heard that we have recently received clearance to merge with Vodafone Australia. By joining forces with Vodafone, 3 will deliver new and exciting offers to you in the future. At this time you can be assured there are no immediate changes, and everything will remain the same for 3 customers.”
Vodafone had yet to officially comment at time of writing.
Vodafone gets Nokia 6730 Classic exclusive gig
May 29th
Vodafone have inked a worldwide deal with Nokia to launch the new Nokia 6730 Classic handset next month.
The handset includes mobile internet access, the Vodafone Music Client, personal and business email access along with mobile navigation capabilities. Available in black or white, Nokia claim the device is a perfect upgrade for Nokia 6500c or 6300 users or anyone seeking an elegant device, optimized for mobile internet and navigation.
Peter Becker-Pennrich, Director of Terminals Marketing at Vodafone says “The Nokia 6730 is a great all-round handset – just as perfect for mobile internet users as for music fans who want to take their tracks with them. This product follows a successful line-up of Vodafone exclusive devices from Nokia and is another great example of our collaboration.”
Vodafone Mobile Clicks contest deadline extended
May 6th
The deadline for UK entries to the Vodafone Mobile Clicks contest has been extended to 22nd May (it was 14th May) – so if you want to be in with a chance of winning €150k it’s time to get motoring..
As previously posted, Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2009 is a joint Anglo-Dutch competion to inspire start-up businesses and individual developers to create and deliver a new mobile site or service. Run by Vodafone’s UK and Netherlands subsidaries, the the final will be held in Amsterdam in September and will feature three finalists from each country. The first three winners will be awarded a total sum of €150,000.
Last years’ Mobile Clicks’ winners included Nulaz, a location-based social networking service merging Google Maps and Facebook to allow people to see where their friends are, share locations and view local information, Tipspot a new online city guide service and Map the Gap, an idea-sharing application for mobile phones.
This is the first year the contest has been open to UK entrants – and whilst there’s already been plenty of entries from our colleagues across the North Sea in Holland it’s time to show the world what the UK can do – and grab that cash for Blighty.
Reckon you’re up to the job? Head over to http://www.vodafonemobileclicks.com pronto – and register your entry.
Win a HTC Magic with Phones 4u
May 1st
Phones 4u is celebrating the launch of the new Google-powered HTC Magic by putting one of the latest must-have handsets up for grabs in a free prize draw.
As an official retailer of the HTC Magic, Phones 4u is giving away this year’s hottest phone, powered by Google’s Android software, to one lucky winner. To be in with a chance of winning, simply visit http://www.phones4u.co.uk/HTC_Magic_Competition/
Building on the success of the G1, the sleeker, slimmer and feature-packed HTC Magic offers a faster, more refined user experience than its predecessor, following the introduction of the new Cupcake operating system. The latest update takes into account users’ feedback of the original Android phone to greatly improve usability and access to features, such as high-speed internet access, push email and Sat Nav.
Customers can take advantage of an exclusive online offer of a free handset, 600 minutes and 3000 texts for just £30 a month on an 18 month contract on Vodafone – cheaper than any other 18 month contract deal on the HTC Magic currently available in the UK!
Customers can pre-order the new HTC Magic online now at http://www.phones4u.co.uk/
Vodafone offer free mobile broadband for a day
Apr 30th
Customers of Vodafone UK are to get a new flat rate 50p daily rate for mobile data starting from May 1st – and to launch the offer the operator is offering free browsing for 24 hours.
Tomorrow (Friday) is ‘Freeday’, so pay as you go and contract customers who don’t already subscribe to a monthly mobile internet bundle will be able to surf the web for nowt. After May 1st it’ll just be 50p a day flat rate – a 50% reduction on the old £1/day flat rate tariff. The usual ‘it’s unlimited but really there’s a limit’ terms apply – and Vodafone are upping the cap from 15MB to 25MB.
If you’re more of a power user than a casual browser, and assuming you’re a pay monthly contract customer, Vodafone’s add-on packs are still better value for money – £5 a month for the length of your contract or £7.50 a month with no ties.
More curious, however, is what Vodafone customers do with their mobile internet connection. Stats from the company reveal that the most visited sites are Facebook, Google, BBC, YouTube, Windows Live, Bebo, and eBay. The top Google searches are Facebook, Bebo, eBay, Hotmail, YouTube, Yahoo, MSN, Google, Flirtomatic and BBC.
Yes that’s right, the top eight most searched term on Google by Vodafone customers is ‘Google’. Now we all know who to blame if the Internet breaks.
Recent Comments