It’s not often Vodafone is leading the pack around the room in the local telco market, but it seems the number-three player was onto something with its international roaming shake-up: Optus is now making its global roaming way cheaper than it was before. I mean, it’s still about the same price as being robbed in a Bangkok marketplace, but it’s trying, right?.
Optus’ new global roaming rates are about simplifying the costs you incur when you travel while trying to avoid the inevitable bill-shock you get after arriving home and realising you could fly back to wherever you came from for the cost of your international Instagram addiction.
Global roaming on Optus used to be broken down into five different zones, and charges differed depending on where you travelled to and how you used your phone while you were there. Drag. The new simplified global roaming plan means that the five zones become two with cheaper rates across both (click here (PDF) for the list of countries).
Optus is also introducing new Travel Packs for its postpaid customers: a $10 bolt-on pack that makes your roaming even cheaper.
These packs will come into effect in November.
Is this fixing global roaming or is it just another rip-off?