as matter of fact Vodafone offers no "flat rate" and will
not do so for a super long time. however, they offer data
bundles based on time or money.
in Germany the exact pricing is:
vodafone time L: 2 hours for 10 Euro plus VAT
vodafone time XL: 10 hours for 30 Euro plus VAT
vodafone time XXL 30 hours for 60 Euro plus VAT
additional 10 minutes above your allowance: 0,90 Euro plus VAT
vodafone volume L: 10 MB for 10 Euro plus VAT
vodafone volume XL: 50 MB for 30 Euro plus VAT
vodafone volume XXL 150 MB for 60 Euro plus VAT
additional 1 MB above your allowance: 0,90 - 1,90 Euro plus VAT
most people will use the time-based package as the data-packages
are basically ridiculous.
in terms of accessing the Internet UMTS does compete with
fixed or Wi-Fi access but only if you ignore pricing which
nobody does who pays his own bill.
imagine that O2 Germany will soon launch a device for the office/home
which has got UMTS as WAN interface and Wi-Fi as LAN interface. they
also think that this is a cool alternative to ADSL because you can
carry it around. the device comes from www.possio.com and they copied
this idea from the UMTSTDD guys at www.airdata.ag who really offer a flat
rate in Stuttgart at 45 Euro including VAT with ADSL 1000 speed.
in my eyes, the pricing of Vodafone (T-Mobile's is basically the same)
is too expensive. Vodafone wants to make money from the early adopters
but the main effect will be slowing down reception and producing many
unhappy customers dying from packet death - like Arjen's Dutch friend.
myself I will continue enjoying my fixed flat rate, look for free
hotspots and support companies like airdata.
jan.
Received on Wed May 19 13:01:40 2004