Listening to consumer feedback, Vodafone has announced a great deal today for prepaid customers, with a 35 day prepaid expiry period being offered on two new plans – Talk Combo and Data Combo. This means that customers will recharge only 10 times per year, instead of 13 payments for those who are on 28 day expiry plans.
28 day plans are common with prepaid providers, and it effectively means that what looks like a 12 month plan costs more than this each year.
Vodafone Consumer Business Unit Director Ben McIntosh says:
“Many Prepaid consumers have said they find 28-day expiry periods unfair. Many have asked why they should pay an extra month a year for their mobile phone service.
By giving these new plans a 35 day expiry instead of a 28 day expiry, customers will have heaps of time to use their inclusions and will be recharging less frequently annually, saving them money.
There’s no denying that 28-day plans have been a sore point in the industry, and we want to lead the industry forward to give consumers greater choice of expiry period.”
So, now we understand what Vodafone are doing and why, let’s take a look at these new Data and Talk Combo plans. A key feature is unlimited standard national calls on both plan types, with the 35 day expiry period offered on those plans at $40 and above.
These plans follow the breakdown of plans in Vodafone’s post paid offers, with the Data Combo plans offering unlimited calls and higher data inclusions, while the Talk Combo plans at $40 and above include overseas calling value of up to two hours talk time.
Data Combo
| Price | $30 | $40 | $50 | $60 |
| Data in Oz | 3 GB | 9 GB | 12 GB | 15 GB |
| Standard national calls and texts in Oz | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Expiry period | 28 days | 35 days | 35 days | 35 days |
Talk Combo
| Price | $30 | $40 | $50 | $60 |
| Data in Oz | 3 GB | 6 GB | 9 GB | 12 GB |
| Standard national calls and texts in Oz | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Standard International minutes (to call selected countries)^ from Oz | 0 | 90 | 90 | 120 |
| Expiry period | 28 days | 35 days | 35 days | 35 days |
For further information on these plans, and to sign up, head on over to Vodafone at http://www.vodafone.com.au/prepaid or pop in and see them in store.
As a Telstra customer with a bugged simplicity prepaid plan that means I do not have to pay 1c to maintain the account until January 2020 this sort of thing is not going to effect me now but it is good to know that at least one company is becoming fairer again with their customers. The problem is I just do not use that much data or calls on my phone to even need to pay the $40/m but if I did this does look to be a reasonable deal. Let’s hope this becomes the norm soon and not the… Read more »
Here’s hoping. Prepaid has always been the slightly poorer cousin to post-paid in terms of value, however they’re quickly catching up. Vodafone’s move is welcome.