Customers were alerted through an SMS that from the 28th of July each standard call on 'no plans' will attract a 25c flagfall - previously callers paid only one cent per second of the call.
Vodafone said the change was because "rather than sending [text] messages, customers are now making very short voice calls instead. Consequently what customers are currently paying, no longer meets the cost of providing the service."
The move comes after Hutchison was criticised for introducing mobile costs of 15c/30sec plus 25c flagfall, with competitors saying the rates were not sustainable.
Vodafone has urged customers to use SMS rather than make short phone calls.
"Vodafone has urged customers to use SMS rather than make short phone calls."
I bet they have - the charge for SMS is so many times the charge for sending the same number of bits in a voice call that it's not funny, even when you add the extra cost of store-and-forward transmission.
My mobile calls have always been short - 30 sec is typical. This is really about doubling the price, while still claiming '1c per second'. Yeah, I know - I can go elsewhere, but they're all as bad as each other, just chiselling away at the customer's pocket.
We know carriers suck (eg, Optus Cable imposing data limits, Telstra installing lines that can't be used with ADSL, "account fees" if you expect to receive a tax invoice as a matter of course), but they don't have to keep proving it to us.