Vodacom’s promotional international roaming rate cut for the Olympic games may become a permanent offer – if Vodafone UK is willing to let it happen.<\/p>\n
Two weeks ago, Vodacom announced that customers travelling to the United Kingdom (UK) for the Olympic Games could experience savings of up to 100% on international roaming.<\/p>\n
MyBroadband BusinessTech questioned whether Vodacom would make the offer permanent.<\/p>\n
“We would like to make these rates permanent, but we cannot because wholesale termination rates are determined by each network,” said Minnie Maharaj, managing executive for wholesale and international services. “In this case, we\u2019ve negotiated the rates with Vodafone UK.”<\/p>\n
However, Maharaj did offer a glimmer of hope: “The increase in UK roaming during this promotional period will allow Vodafone UK to assess if they can offer us these rates permanently.”<\/p>\n
Vodacom had previously told MyBroadband BusinessTech that the international roaming discount was specifically negotiated with Vodafone UK for the Olympic games over a promotional period.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019re anticipating a noticeable increase in UK roaming during this period,” Vodacom said. “This enabled us to negotiate discounted rates that can be passed on our customers.”<\/p>\n
“This offer is only possible because we have negotiated discounted wholesale rates with Vodafone UK on the basis that this promotion will run for a limited period.”<\/p>\n
Under the terms of the promotion, there will be 60% savings for local calls in the UK. Vodacom customers will also save 76% on calls to South Africa, 45% on SMS messages and 71% on data roaming.<\/p>\n
During the promotional period, customers will also save 100% on calls received from any network, since they will not be charged for receiving calls.<\/p>\n
The promotional rates will be applicable to Vodacom Pre-paid, Contract and Top Up customers, and will be available from 20 July to 16 September 2012.<\/p>\n
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