Vodafone has added six Asian countries to its Red plan customers to use their phone overseas as they would at home. Soon, customers who travel into China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, or Thailand will be able to pay an additional AU$5 per day to keep using their phones as though they were still in Australia. The deal itself was first launched in August, with Red plan customers travelling to the US, the UK, and New Zealand no longer facing high roaming charges to use data or make calls while in those countries if they paid an extra AU$5 per day.
Before Christmas, the company then extended it out to cover 34 European countries. Yesterday, it has announced that the move to cover six Asian countries is designed to target the top tourism spots of Thailand and Bali, and also Australia’s business partners in Japan and China.
“Asia is a hugely popular destination for Australians taking a holiday, with Bali and Thailand among the top spots for Australians taking short overseas trips,” said Vodafone’s chief marketing officer Kim Clarke. “Many of our customers who travel regularly to Asia for business, especially those visiting China and Japan. In a constantly switched-on world, you simply can’t afford to miss those important business calls or emails, and it shouldn’t cost the earth.”
Telstra and Optus have also moved to point the high global roaming charges, with a reduction in global roaming data packs for Telstra customers and Optus customers getting a price cut in roaming charges, with roaming packs now available for certain locations.