In another thread today I have offered praise to Three for their upfrontedness about Mobile Broadband, but have also cast a few comments about the way in which their data roaming tariffs are somewhat obscured. So I have decided to take a quick peek at what Vodafone are up to.

Vodafone's Mobile Broadband page is easy enough to locate from their homepage. But immediately they fall into the "speed" trap;

Why Vodafone?
We’re the only mobile operator with Mobile Broadband speeds up to 7.2Mbps. And our coverage in the UK and abroad is fantastic.
So in one sentence they have set in the buyer's mind that they can expect a speed up to 7.2Mbps, which all sounds reasonable enough. Except that it is well understood that people do not realise that "upto" can mean speeds no better than GPRS even across an HSDPA path. I have, in London which is a 7.2Mbps area, frequently observed speeds of less than 9KBps (that is approx 72Kbps in old money) which is not a lot better than V92 dial-up across a landline. That is all a very far cry from 7.2Mbps - unacceptably so I would say, and beyond the bounds of reasonableness. But completely, and legally, fitting into the definition of "upto".

In my other posting I took Three to task for obscuring their data roaming tariff information. So is Vodafone any better in that respect? I think it is certainly is clearer inasmuch as offering some early information on the same page;
Great coverage in the UK and abroad
Our broadband coverage in the UK is fantastic – and it’s great abroad too. From just £9.99 for 24 hours, you can use your Modem across Europe and in the USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Once again there is a conditional statement "From just £9.99...." which should ring alarm bells in anyone's head, clearly there is more information required. But where is it? Not far, is the answer, where there is a link on the same page Coverage Abroad offers a hint of the information we are after. And sure enough, there it is, all that we have been looking for in on the page, just one click away, at the bottom of the page.
At Vodafone we have reduced the cost of roaming abroad with your USB Modem or Data Card, and made it simpler and easier to understand than ever before.

Vodafone Price Plans

Mobile Broadband 24
£4.99 per MB
Any network#
Any country

Mobile Broadband
£9.99 for 24 hours* in selected countries**
£4.99 per MB in other countries

Mobile Broadband Travel
200 MB included
Any network#
Any country
£4.99 per MB out of bundle

Mobile Broadband (per MB roaming)
£4.99 per MB
Any network#
Any country
Just be careful when reading this information - those asterisks and # symbols are very significant when read against a table of countries also on that same page.

So there you have it, Vodafone making a better show of things than Three in terms of international roaming tariffs. And let us all be very clear, these are not trivial charges to get wrong or be mistaken about. It is very easy to fall foul of roaming data tariffs and return home to charges that can amount to several tens of thousands of pounds! Fair enough, these are headline tales of woe, but it would not be difficult to generate many hundreds of pounds of charges in a single trip.

Well done Vodafone, much clearer tariff information that is easy to find. But I still feel that there should be prominent warnings made about international data roaming.