This is yet another of the big operators pushing up the price of pay as you go calls outside of bundles. That said, Three recently launched pay as you go calls at 3 pence per minute, so it is going in the opposite direction.

There are also many virtual operators offering far lower call rates for those whose usage doesn't make a bundle worthwhile.


And of course this is another operator which is moving the goalposts so as to bill per whole minute rather than per second.

According to BBC News article: Vodafone under fire over per-minute charges change, O2 and Virgin Mobile still charge per second, but T-Mobile and Orange charge per whole minute.


Here's the announcement from Vodafone:

Pay as you go pricing just got simpler

Quote:

This begs the question: if charging per second was "complicated" for customers why did Vodafone do it in the first place?

It's the equivalent of fuel-filling stations saying that charging per one-hundredth of a litre is complicated for customers and that instead they will now be charged per whole litre.

If a call lasts 90 seconds at a call rate of 25 pence per minute with whole-minute billing this will cost 50 pence. So the actual cost (in this example) is 33 pence for each minute. The point being that 25 pence per minute is the least it will cost and that most calls will cost more. Only those calls whose durations are integer minutes will cost the minimum amount.

Rather than stating calls cost "25 pence per minute", the accurate description (so as to give the full picture) is that calls cost "between 25 pence per minute and 50 pence per minute".

bbb_uk wrote on Jul 11^th, 2013 at 4:56pm:


Customers with Orange or T-Mobile are already charged on a per-minute basis.

Dave wrote on Sep 12^th, 2008 at 10:43am:
I agree with this comment from the other thread you referred to.

However, past experience shows that Ofcom doesn't like doing anything that CPs may not like.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/bills/article-2383351/Vodafone-pay-costs-soar-s...



PUBLISHED: 12:01, 2 August 2013 | UPDATED: 12:46, 2 August 2013

Massive cost increase for 8m Vodafone pay-as-you-go customers as it moves from charging per second to by the minute

Millions of pay-as-you-go Vodafone customers will pay substantially more for their calls as the company moves from charging per second to charging per minute.

All new minutes will be rounded up so a call lasting one minute 10 seconds, previously costing 29p, will be treated as a two-minute call and customers will be charged 50p.

The change affects Vodafone’s 8million pay-as-you-go customers and the company said that it has notified them 30 days in advance. It added that ‘many of our competitors already offer price plans charged in this way'.

The change affects all calls to UK and international landlines and mobiles. The cost per minute for calls to national, local (01,02,03) and other Vodafone mobile numbers remains at 25p.



A spokesman from Vodafone said: ‘Many of our competitors already offer price plans charged in this way. We believe that by offering propositions with a generous allowance of minutes, we continue to offer our customers great value.’

The provider said it made the change because the ‘cost of providing services has risen’. A spokesman added: ‘No company likes to change the way they price but that is the reality of the market today.’

Pay monthly customers will continue to be charged by the second.
COSTS FOR VODAFONE PAY-AS-YOU-GO CUSTOMERS EXPLAINED

National, local (01, 02, 03) and other Vodafone mobile numbers - 25p a minute

Calls to any Channel Islands and Isle of Man mobile and landline (starting 01481, 01534 or 01624) - 36p a minute

International: Europe - 28p a minute, Asia Pacific 80p a minute, USA and Canada £1.35 a minute, rest of the world £1.65 a minute.