Vodafone has cut its mobile data roaming charges for customers travelling in Europe by 60%. The price reduction will enable the operator’s 35 million subscribers to benefit from data roaming services in Europe priced at the same level as in their domestic markets. Vodafone is offering two options: for a charge of EUR2 per day customers can use their domestic data plan abroad, or select a monthly price plan which includes data roaming. The new lower charges will be rolled out across the operator’s European markets during November and December 2010.

Vodafone today announced much simpler and lower pricing for using a smartphone whilst travelling in Europe, making it more affordable for customers to email, access social media sites and surf the Internet abroad.

The new, simple and transparent pricing provides daily and monthly rates for customers to use their domestic smartphone data plans when they are abroad. Those customers who travel occasionally can take a domestic data plan abroad for only €2 per day, which represents a cost reduction of up to 60% over existing plans and includes an increase to the data allowance. Alternatively, frequent travellers can select to take a price plan which includes data roaming within their monthly domestic package. Both offers are available for consumer or business customers.

Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone, said: “This is the year of the smartphone and we want our 35 million European data users to feel free to use their devices in Europe in the same way as they do at home. We expect smartphone sales in Europe to grow from 32 per cent today to more than 70 per cent by 2013, and we want to drive that growth with what we believe to be the best value, market-leading roaming data packages.”

The new plans are being rolled-out in Vodafone’s major European markets during November and December 2010, in time for the winter holiday season, and across the Company’s entire European footprint by summer, next year. They build on Vodafone’s leading position in the industry following the launch in 2005 of its Passport voice roaming service, which is now used by around 28 million customers.

Today’s announcement, which will benefit the growing number of customers wanting to check emails and use applications when they roam, is backed by a major marketing campaign captioned ‘feel free to use your smartphone abroad.’

Daily and monthly offers will be available across all European Vodafone markets, below are examples of the daily offer in Italy and the monthly offer in the UK.

All consumer and business customers on the daily offer will be able to access domestic price plans in Vodafone’s European countries plus France, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria. Business monthly customers will be able to include data roaming across the whole of Europe within their domestic monthly package and consumer monthly customers can use the new price plans in Vodafone countries as well as France, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria.
Vodafone’s European countries include: Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and the UK.

About Vodafone

Vodafone is one of the world's largest mobile communications companies by revenue with approximately 343 million customers in its controlled and jointly controlled markets as at 30 September 2010. Vodafone currently has equity interests in over 30 countries across five continents and over 40 partner networks worldwide.