23rd May 2007 11:40
Vodafone Group Plc23 May 2007 23 May 2007 VODAFONE HAS ALREADY CUT EUROPEAN ROAMING COSTS BY OVER 40% OPT-IN CLAUSE ENABLES VODAFONE PASSPORT CUSTOMERS TO CONTINUE TO BENEFIT FROM LOWER RATES THAN PROPOSED EURO-TARIFF TRANSPARENCY MEASURES SUPPORT CUSTOMER CHOICE Following today's vote in the European Parliament to reduce roaming prices,Vodafone announces that its customers have already seen the average cost ofvoice roaming in Europe fall by over 40% compared to summer 2005. This is theresult of various initiatives which Vodafone has introduced in recent years toprovide better value roaming services to its customers, including those on boththe Vodafone Passport and Vodafone World tariffs. Since its launch in 2005, the Vodafone Passport tariff has attracted over 12million customers across all of Vodafone's businesses and Partner Networks. Thevast majority of these customers are in Europe, and they have already beenenjoying an average cost per minute for making and receiving calls which islower than the 40 cents* proposed by lawmakers for the Euro-tariff, which willbe introduced later this year. An opt-in clause proposed by European lawmakerswill ensure that customers who have already chosen Vodafone Passport can remainon this tariff and will not be forced to take the Euro-tariff. Arun Sarin, Chief Executive of Vodafone said:"Vodafone has led the market by offering better value and choice to our roamingcustomers. As a result, they pay 40% less on average today and around 12 millionhave been able to choose our Passport tariff, which already offers a better dealthan the Euro-tariff proposed in the regulation." Vodafone also confirms that over 80 million of its European customers canalready receive roaming tariff information, free of charge, whenever theytravel. Vodafone believes that this transparency helps customers to decide forthemselves how and when to best use roaming services. The transparency measuresnow being proposed by European lawmakers are already largely in place forVodafone customers. * The Euro-tariff proposed by the European Parliament would impose a maximumcharge of €0.49 per minute for making calls and €0.24 per minute for receivingcalls for the first 12 months of regulation. The average cost per minute forboth making and receiving calls under the Euro-tariff is then calculated byassuming that two-thirds of all roaming calls are made and one-third of roamingcalls are received (i.e. 0.49x 0.66+0.24x0.33). These usage assumptions areconsistent with those used by the Commission in its Regulatory ImpactAssessment. - ends - VODAFONE, Vodafone Passport and Vodafone World are trade marks of the VodafoneGroup. Other products and company names mentioned herein may be the trade marksof their respective owners. For further information:Vodafone GroupInvestor Relations Media RelationsTel: +44 (0) 1635 664447 Tel: +44 (0) 1635 664444 NOTES TO EDITORS Vodafone Passport Vodafone Passport, the innovative roaming tariff, was launched in May 2005 andallows millions of Vodafone customers to take their home price plans abroad fora small connection fee per call, the first roaming tariff to enable customers todo so. Over 12 million customers, the vast majority of which are in Europe, havechosen to opt-in to this free-of-charge service. Retail Pricing On 8 May 2006, Vodafone announced that it would cut the average cost of roamingby at least 40% by April 2007 when compared to summer 2005. This reduction hasnow been implemented. The reduction has been identified by calculating the costper minute of both making and receiving calls for all Vodafone's Europeancustomers who roamed within the EU during the month of April 2007 and comparingthis to the average cost per minute for all European customers who roamed withinthe EU during the summer of 2005 (June-August) The average cost per minute forcustomers from Vodafone's EU subsidiary operating companies has fallen by atleast 40% overall on the basis described above. The confirmation of the reduction of 40% has been part of a continuouscommitment from Vodafone to reduce the costs of roaming calls which began in2005 with the introduction of Vodafone Passport. Similarly, Vodafone has alsobeen working to reduce data roaming costs with a flat-rate €12 daily tariff forlaptop users which was announced in March 2007 and will be available from 1 July2007. Transparency Vodafone confirmed today that at least 80 million European customers can obtainpersonalised information about the cost of roaming, free of charge. Customers will be able to text/call Vodafone whenever they are at home or abroadin order to receive a free text from Vodafone which tells them the cost ofmaking and receiving calls in their chosen market. In May 2006, Vodafone committed to introducing a text information service across12 countries in Europe in which Vodafone has a subsidiary. This is now availablein all markets, except the UK and Hungary where customers are able to requestand receive free information only when in their home market, pending fullimplementation of the service. Wholesale Pricing On 8 May 2006, Vodafone committed that, from 1 October 2006, it would offer onrequest, to all mobile network operators licensed and established within the EU,an average charge for roaming on Vodafone's European subsidiary networks of nomore than • 0.45 per minute for roaming calls within the EU on a reciprocalbasis. By April 2007, agreements with other mobile operators representing thevast majority of Vodafone's wholesale traffic had been concluded at wholesalerates of €0.45 per minute or less. About Vodafone Vodafone is the world's leading international mobile communications group withoperations in 25 countries across five continents and over 200 millionproportionate customers by the end of January 2007, of which 100 million are inEurope, as well as 38 partner networks. For further information, please visitwww.vodafone.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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