Vodafone Germany will soon be launching a new plan that will give users a flat rate of €29.99 per month for calls to all German fixed and mobile networks. It also includes a flat rate for texts to all German networks, as well as 200 MB of high-speed data. Existing customers will be able to move to the new all-net plans if they sign a 24-month minimum contract.

Tarifica’s Take

A clearly discernible move is underway in the mobile marketplace toward all encompassing all-net calling and away from on-net, weekend, mobile-to-fixed, and other such options. We’ve already seen this trend among other providers in the German market, such as T-Mobile, and we envision more operators in more countries rolling out similar all-net offers.

So why is all-net in the ascendancy? By encompassing all the other options, it creates the kind of simplicity that clearly is attractive to consumers. With all-net, users do not have to keep track of who they are calling, when they are calling, or the specific network they are calling. A call becomes just a call, regardless of the operator or network associated with the number being called, or day of the week the call is made. The same concept applies to text messaging

In our view, this trend is also driving the global movement toward prepaid. Users want control over costs, and flat rate, like pay-as-you-go, gives them that control. As to Vodafone’s plan in particular, it appears to be designed for people who are much more interested in voice and text than in data, since the data allotment of 200 MB per month is quite limited.