Vodafone to offer pay-as-you-go 3G data cards

Vodafone is hoping that business users so far put off by the high cost of 3G data subscriptions will be enticed in with the announcement that the mobile phone operator is to offer pay-as-you-go data cards.

Pocket-lint muted the idea in 2003 when we reviewed Vodafone's mobile connect card although until now Vodafone had failed to act on our advice.

The new Vodafone Mobile Connect Prepay 3G data card costs £199 plus VAT and includes 10MB of data usage. Additional data costs around £3 per megabyte in the UK and £9 internationally and top-ups can be bought by mobile phone, telephone, in Vodafone UK retail shops and online.

In the UK, Vodafone offers 3G coverage to around 65 per cent of the population although getting a good strong signal for data transfer is still very hard.