Vodafone launches flat-rate mobile data

Vodafone has finally launched data bundles which take it into competition with rival mobile operators.

Like Orange, the operator is relatively late in introducing significantly sized monthly data bundles, but Vodafone claims that its timing relates to the launch of its mobile-Internet strategy, which is due later this month.

The tariff -- available as of Friday to the operator's contract customers -- is priced at £7.50 per month and includes 120MB of data usage. Extra data will be charged at its standard rate of £1 per day.

By comparison, T-Mobile's basic Web'n'Walk mobile-Internet package, which is also priced at £7.50 per month, offers 1GB of data per month.

A spokesperson for Vodafone said that the operator has always bundled some megabytes into certain enterprise tariffs, but this was the first time it was offering a full-blown monthly data pack. Asked why it had taken Vodafone so long to offer the bundle, the spokesperson said the timing would make sense when taken in the context of "a number of other initiatives" due to be announced later in June.

As with comparatively priced tariffs from other operators, Vodafone is discouraging the use of VoIP and instant messaging in its data bundles, and it may charge customers extra if those services are used.