Voda tries cheaper $19 caps

Vodafone is trying its hand at cheap and cheerful, announcing a new AU$19 cap contract for customers choosing its network.

Removing any remaining differentiation from the offerings of its sister company 3 Mobile, the new AU$19 offers AU$70 per month in calling credit to any phone in Australia, plus an additional AU$70 per month in credit to be spent calling other Vodafone network customers. This could equate to approximately 75 calling minutes at the contracted rate of 90¢ per minute plus a 35¢ flagfall for each call.

Vodafone launched the new AU$19 cap with seven mobile handsets, which are available with $0 monthly repayments; the Nokia E63, Nokia 6300, Nokia 7230, Nokia 2730, plus the Sony Ericsson T715, W595 and W890i.

With these plans aligned, the VHA alliance offers the most competitive calling rates in Australia at this time. Optus also offers a AU$19 per month contract, but only gives AU$50 calling credit in return. All three network operators offer the AU$19 cap on either a 12- or 24-month contract term.