Vodafone offers free data weekend as penance for network outage
Vodafone customers will receive free data services this weekend, with the telco calling it a "goodwill" gesture in the aftermath of a nationwide network outage experienced earlier this month.
"As you are aware, we recently experienced an issue which disrupted our 4G mobile services," a text message sent to customers on Thursday said.
"We're sorry for the impact this caused you and as a gesture of goodwill, we're offering free data services to customers this weekend."
The free data will begin on Saturday, 24 April at 12:01am AEST and end on Sunday, 25 April at 11:59pm AEST. It will be available on a customer's mobile phone plan, mobile broadband plan, or prepaid service.
With many customers already signed up to plans with lots of data, Vodafone said the free data customers will receive this weekend could be used at unrestricted speeds.
"Any infinite or endless data you normally receive as part of your plan is throttled at the speed relevant to your plan," it said.
For customers using prepaid, they can access the free data even if the service has expired, as long as they last recharged within the past 365 days.
See also: Vodafone Australia and TPG merger: Everything you need to know
While Australians are now able to travel over the ditch to New Zealand without needing to quarantine, thanks to the trans-Tasman bubble set up by both country's governments, Vodafone confirmed the free data would only be for customers within Australia.
"It's been many years since we've experienced a major service interruption, and we are always working to upgrade and improve the resiliency of our network," the TPG Telecom company said on its website.
On April 9, Vodafone customers experienced outages across the network, with reports being made via social media from around 11:00am AEST.
At 12:23pm AEST, Vodafone took to Twitter to confirm that the issue was being experienced across the country.
The telco posted another update via Twitter, telling customers in response to their queries that the issue causing disruption to services had been identified and it was working to resolve the issue.
By 9:43pm AEST, 4G traffic had returned to normal.
MORE FROM VODAFONE
TPG took AU$90 million hit from COVID-19 in 2020
For the year, the post-merger TPG Telecom posted EBITDA of AU$1.39 billion.
TPG Telecom to launch budget mobile service Felix
The new digital-only, app-based mobile service will be launched in the coming weeks.
TPG Telecom flags 5G fixed wireless service to start in 2021
CEO also compares NBN capacity charge to completing laps of Mount Panorama stuck in second gear.
Company formerly known as Vodafone Australia ends first half once again in the red
On a standalone basis, profits from the former Vodafone Hutchinson Australia were once again wiped out by financing costs.