Vodafone confront 3 threat with low price tariff

June 21, 2004

Vodafone customers will be offered special half-price mobile tariffs to encourage them not to move to 3 UK. The Sunday Times reported that customers who are thinking of leaving the operator in favour of 3 could for £37.50 a month have 1000 inclusive voice call minutes each month.

Vodafone believe the deal is "competitive against 3" and is undercutting 3's VideoTalk 1000 tariff by £22.50 per month. 3's VideoTalk 1000 tariff is £60 a month for 1000 voice call minutes but also includes £15 worth of content access, 150 SMS, 25 emails, 50 picture messages and 50 video messages.

Orange is also said to be prepared to match the tariffs available on 3 but insisted that there is "no evidence" that their customers are defecting to 3.

3 launched its 3G mobile video service back in March 2003 and lured customers with aggressive pricing strategies. It's VideoTalk 750 package at £35 a month won first place in the 'consumer post-pay price plan' category at the Mobile retailer awards. The low price tariffs have finally made an impact in the industry and other operators are taking notice of its threat.

The company also turned the pre-pay market upside down by offering tariffs that were identical to post-pay tariffs. Previously pre-pay would on average be more expensive than post-pay tariffs.

3's latest handset, the LG U8110, is selling extremely well and is currently their best selling handset. The handset is an improvement over other 3G handsets and is inline with most 2G handsets - small, light and longer battery life.

Vodafone has launched 3G services in Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands and Portugal, and is expected to do so soon in the UK. The operator is offering the Samsung Z105 handset and will be followed later by the long awaited SonyEricsson Z1010.