Vodafone mobile broadband

Vodafone brings the standard of service and reliability that businesses expect to everyone's mobile broadband experience.

It's a very popular network operator and this is no coincidence - it's always ahead of the competition when it comes to providing wide coverage and high speeds, and this draws in customers.

Best for

• Speed - first UK mobile broadband to offer speeds of up to 7.2Mbits/s
• Reliability - better reliability as a result of engineering excellence
• Overseas use - clear and fair fixed pricing for use overseas
• Business - customer service and products which match the needs of business people

Returns / cancellation policy

Vodafone currently shares the least generous policy of all the networks. Customers must cancel and return their equipment within 7 days of receipt.  The terms and conditions aren't clear, but it looks as if you can't return your mobile broadband after use.  This means that you have to rely on Vodafone's coverage checker rather than being able to see what coverage you really get.

Also bear in mind that if you move to a new area after the end of the returns period and find yourself without coverage, Vodafone will hold you to your contract and normal cancellation fees apply (see below).  

If you want to cancel your contract before the end of your minimum term, you will have to pay a cancellation charge. This will be the total of your monthly line rental multiplied by the number of months you have left in the minimum term of your contract. So if you're on an 18 month plan and wish to cancel after 8 months, you'll have to pay a cancellation charge equal to your monthly line rental for the remaining 10 months.  

You can move to another Vodafone plan of the same or of a greater monthly cost at any time in your contract term - no surprise there!  You can also downgrade to the next cheapest plan, but only after you've had mobile broadband for at least 9 months.  

Use abroad

Use of mobile broadband abroad is currently expensive for all mobile broadband suppliers, and Vodafone is no exception.  It's still good value though, if you're travelling for business.

Vodafone is probably the cheapest of the mobile broadband companies.  In the EU the cost is £9.99 a day for the first 50MB, and for the rest of the world the cost is £29.99 a day for the first 50MB.  50MB is normally plenty for email and light web browsing, which is the most we recommend you do while travelling.

Excess charges

Vodafone charges a flat rate of £15 for up to 1GB of usage above your download allowance.  We think this is a fair approach, and certainly usually much better than the 'per MB' excess charges from some other mobile broadband companies.

About Vodafone

UK based Vodafone has more than 20 years of experience as a mobile provider and has pioneered many mobile innovations. It was the network that made the UK's first ever mobile call, at a few minutes past midnight on 1 January 1985.

The network has since grown into one of the leading mobile phone providers in both the UK and abroad and is the largest company of its kind anywhere in the world, extending across 27 countries and into 5 continents with an estimated customer base in excess of 200 million globally. In the UK, Vodafone is the network of choice for almost a third of all mobile users.

Vodafone has now brought its reputation for impressive customer service and business packages to the mobile broadband market. As one of the biggest mobile broadband providers, Vodafone offers users a variety of packages with download limits ranging from 1GB to 5GB per month and contract lengths from 12 to 24 months. Vodafone mobile broadband also offers a contract-free TopUp and Go service for any users not keen on a lengthy contract. In addition users can benefit from 24 hr device replacement in case of loss or damage and more than 1,000 UK-based specialist business advisers are on hand to answer any questions.

In the biggest ever independent survey in the UK, carried out in June 2008 by LCC, Vodafone was singled out for being significantly faster and more reliable than other operators. They've also invested heavily in expanding their super-fast network to cover more of the UK. It's currently available in the major UK airports, along with a lot of London postcodes and areas of Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Reading.