Vodafone has admitted it inadequately forecast demand from roaming customers over the Christmas period but has promised that the worst of its roaming problems, which saw some overseas users unable to make calls or send texts, are now over -- thanks to a helping hand from Optus.
Vodafone users abroad reported issues with the operator's roaming services from Christmas Day, with users in New Zealand and the UK most severely affected.
The company has also backtracked on its previous statements that the problems were not due to inadequate forecasting. "International roaming traffic throughout the holiday season exceeded Vodafone's forecasts.... With international roaming services now returning to normal, Vodafone Australia and Vodafone New Zealand are undertaking a full review of the international signalling capacity required for roaming customers, particularly during peak periods," Vodafone said in a statement.
The roaming issues that have dogged overseas users were attributed to congestion on Vodafone's international signalling links, which are provided by Optus.
Earlier this week, Vodafone said it had requested more capacity from Optus to help solve the congestion but was "not getting much joy at this stage ... they've not been particularly forthcoming". Although Optus declined to comment on the issue, since then, it appears to have responded to Vodafone's calls.
"[The roaming situation] is getting better by the hour and Optus has been good enough to allocate extra capacity to get us over the hump," a Vodafone spokesperson told ZDNet Australia today. "The issue of congestion on the international signalling links is now starting to return to normal."
While Vodafone declined to predict when the roaming difficulties would be entirely resolved, it said the bulk of the problem has now been cleared and the company is now conducting a review into the situation.
"We're starting to get a bit more forensic about what happened," the Vodafone spokesperson added. "We're making sure to get a better indication of what happened so we can avoid this sort of thing in the future. It's not good for us and it's not good for customers."
This problem is not solved yet. Last night it was partly ok. Now in Holland 4th januari 15:38. I send 4 SMS already to Thailand. I have vodaphone. Just called with home-phone. No SMS received in Thailand yet. Already 6 hours ago. If you call to vodafone in holland they say there's no contract with the one you send sms to. B*llsh*t. SMS for 5 years already and now theres no contract. Why they just don't tell what's going on then i'll stop sending SMS till it's ok again, no problem.