Vodafone Ireland scraps UK roaming charges

Vodafone Ireland has announced that from March 14, pay monthly contract customers visiting the UK or Northern Ireland will not be charged for "roaming," and it is hoped that Vodafone will extend this to their Northern Ireland customers.

Irish customers will be able to make and receive calls to numbers within UK and Northern Ireland at their usual home rate. Prepaid customers will benefit from a reduction in their call connection charge. A connection fee of 29 cents-per-call will be levied, but the same per minute rate as at home will apply when making calls in the UK or Northern Ireland.

NI Enterprise Minister Angela Smith today welcomed the move by Vodafone Ireland and said she looked forward to a similar deal for Northern Ireland customers.

Vodafone NI has confirmed that it is planning an announcement in coming weeks to deliver benefits to its customers based in Northern Ireland.

The Minister said: "It is now clear that the work I have been doing on this issue, which affects many people who live, work and travel in border areas, is bringing real results. I look forward to hearing a similar announcement from Vodafone in Northern Ireland shortly."

Today's announcement by Vodafone (Ireland) follows recent announcements made by O2 Ireland and T-Mobile on roaming charges.

However the Minister warned: "The UK operators will have to move quickly to fend off competition from offers available in the Republic of Ireland. More widely we are seeing more choice in the marketplace which means more competition, which, ultimately, is good for the consumer."

Both governments have been pressuring mobile companies to deal with this issue of cross border roaming charges.

(SP/GB)