VODAFONE Australia has launched a new set of mobile phone plans to help customers avoid overseas bill shock by allowing them to use their existing call, text and data quotas while travelling.
Under the new plans Vodafone will charge its customers $5 per day to use their existing call, text and data inclusions while travelling in the UK, US and New Zealand.
"Australians' love affair with smartphones is well known but an increasing number of customers have been getting caught out by unacceptably high bills when they're overseas, particularly in relation to data usage," said Vodafone chief executive Bill Morrow.
"$5 a day to use your normal plan overseas is the cost of a coffee in New York, London or Auckland."
Vodafone is leveraging its relationship with Vodafone Group, the largest mobile network in the world and 50 per cent owner of Vodafone's Australian business, to make the deal possible.
"We've begun our simplification of global roaming pricing with New Zealand, the UK and the US, which are the countries that 40 per cent of our customers visit most frequently, making up some 50 per cent of all data usage overseas. But our plan is to extend this simple plan to as many countries across the globe as we possibly can," Mr Morrow said.
Vodafone says that it and other providers currently sell data packs for customers to use overseas, but that the packs don't include calls or texts and customers say they find them confusing.
Mr Morrow said customers who do not buy a data pack to use while overseas can be charged high default rates of up to $20,000 for 1GB of data.
"Global roaming costs are a worldwide issue because of the prices various networks charge each other but the impact on our customers is too great. I am determined to end global roaming bill shock just as soon as I can and make sure Vodafone customers can simply enjoy their holidays," he said.
