Vodafone, Virgin kick off mobile data battle

Vodafone and Optus subsidiary Virgin Mobile appear to be set for a new battle over data limits for customers, with both recently announcing increases in the monthly data limits for several plans.

As Vodafone makes a push to win over customers from Telstra and Optus through generous data limits, Optus is using its subsidiary Virgin in an effort to push back against Vodafone's bid to woo customers back to its network.

Earlier this week, Vodafone announced that it would double the monthly data on offer for its Red plans on 12- or 24-month contracts above AU$65 per month until April 29, with data limits ranging from 3GB per month up to 10GB per month.

In response, Virgin Mobile today announced that it would double the data on its AU$60 per month and AU$90 per month plans, for 3GB and 6GB of data per month, respectively, for customers signing up before May 11.

Vodafone today also announced that it would expand its 4G mobile broadband offering, introducing an AU$65 per month plan that comes with 12GB of data per month. The company has also cut the price of its Wi-Fi hotspot, down from AU$169 to AU$84.50 for customers signing on to 12- or 24-month contracts.

Vodafone's chief marketing officer Kim Clarke said the addition of the plan came in response to customers asking for more data.

"Our customers told us that their need for data — especially for mobile broadband services — has increased since last year's launch of our new 4G network," she said in a statement.

Vodafone's last push to double its data late last year is believed to have resulted in Vodafone's first net gain in post-paid customers in the last three years in December.