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Vodafone introduces $1 per minute flat rate for global roaming

Vodafone expands its Red international roaming plans with a AU$1 per minute flat rate for calls, as well as opening up AU$5 per day to more countries.

Michelle Starr Science editor
Michelle Starr is CNET's science editor, and she hopes to get you as enthralled with the wonders of the universe as she is. When she's not daydreaming about flying through space, she's daydreaming about bats.
Michelle Starr
2 min read

Vodafone has expanded on its Red international roaming plans with a AU$1 per minute flat rate for calls.

(Credit: Vodafone)

Vodafone's Red international global roaming is a pretty great deal. For an extra AU$5 per day, it allows you to continue to make calls, send SMS and use data using your normal rates — a pretty effective remedy for the bill shock often experienced by international travellers. However, it's only available in 46 countries around the globe.

For travellers outside those 46 countries, Vodafone has announced that it will be simplifying its rates for over 200 countries, including India, Canada, Vietnam and Fiji. Instead of paying a different rate for every country, calls will now be a flat rate at AU$1 per minute, and data will be a flat AU$1 per megabyte — a rate, Vodafone said, that has slashed data charges by 90 per cent.

"Customers have enough to think about when travelling and we'd rather their phone bill not be on the list," Vodafone chief marketing officer Kim Clarke said. "With Vodafone's simple AU$1 fee for a 1-minute call or 1MB of data, you can enjoy your trip without fear of arriving home to an excessive bill."

In addition, Vodafone will now be applying its AU$5-per-day international roaming plan to all current post-paid Vodafone plans as of next week.

"We're opening this up to all our current postpaid plans because we want them to experience truly worry-free international roaming," Clarke said. "You shouldn't have to adjust three different settings in your phone or buy a new SIM card to enjoy using your phone like you would at home. These plans are also enormously popular with people travelling for business as it saves them a fortune on expensive hotel Wi-Fi charges."

You can view Vodafone's international roaming rates on its website (although it seems Vodafone hasn't yet updated it to reflect the changes). You can also check your usage while travelling via MyVodafone.