Vodafone targets public sector with flexible tariffs

Vodafone is looking to increase its share of the public sector mobile market with a new range of plans for government workers, promising agencies greater control and flexibility.

The plans let organisations pool voice, text and data allowances for more efficient allocation depending on job role, while there are also data caps and ‘worry-free’ roaming options. Customers also get a named customer service advisor should they run into any problems.

The operator claims the new tariffs will achieve the twin aims of reducing costs while also ensuring citizens benefit from better services powered by mobile technology.

Improvements

“The value of mobile technology to support the delivery of better public services to citizens cannot be underestimated,” said Anne Sheehan, Enterprise Director at Vodafone UK.

“Secure, fast mobile connectivity can make a huge difference to a district nurse accessing patient records when making home visits, or to a police officer needing to verify personal details during an incident.

“Our new mobile plans are designed with this in mind, helping a diverse and critical set of workers and organisations get things done quickly and efficiently on the move, with the peace of mind that they can keep control of costs.”

To this end, Vodafone has also created a new portal for local and central government and the emergency services which provides information on future and existing technologies and how they can be deployed.

There are also details on which services comply with specific government frameworks, to help with purchasing decisions.

“Over the last 30 years we’ve continually evolved our services and solutions to match the needs of public sector bodies,” continued Sheehan. “We have had a fantastic response from those organisations who have tested the new, portal, which has been developed based on their requirements and feedback.

"They have told us that it will help to inform and inspire them about how technology can improve their ability to respond to changing demands on resources, while meeting budget constraints.”

The UK mobile market has been a difficult hunting ground for Vodafone over the past few years, with enterprise revenues continuing to fall.

Europe in general has been challenging for Vodafone thanks to falling legacy revenues, but the mood in Newbury is more positive than in recent times thanks to investments in broadband, a focus on IoT and the multi-billion pound ‘Project Spring’ network upgrade programme.