Vodafone announces price rise for mobile tariffs in Czechia

Vodafone, the largest mobile network in Czechia by coverage, has announced in a press release today that it will raise the prices of all its flat-rate mobile tariffs by 9 percent. This will apply to individuals, households, and companies from Feb. 26.

“We do not want any cost-saving measures [made by Vodafone] to come at the expense of our service quality,” were the words of Czech Vodafone Chief Executive Petr Dvořák when justifying the price increase.

Rising national energy prices, network-maintenance costs, and operational fees are the reasons behind Vodafone’s price hike. Only mobile plans will change – fixed internet prices and pre-paid SIM cards will remain the same price.

The price of the “Start 250” tariff, which gives users 250 minutes of calls and 1 gigabyte of data, will rise from CZK 399 to CZK 435 per month. Similarly, the "Unlimited “Basic” tariff – providing unlimited data and calls – will increase from CZK 599 to CZK 653.

According to price-comparison site porovnej24.cz, Vodafone has the third-highest amount of mobile customers in the country, with about 4 million clients. T-Mobile and O2, its main competitors, are more popular, with the former having the most customers. These three providers dominate the Czech market.

T-Mobile late last year announced that it was moving all of its mobile-data services to the fifth-generation (5G) network, consequently also rising tariff prices. 

O2 has done the same thing in 2022, when it bumped up its fixed-internet and tariff prices (as well as television service fees) by about 10 percent.

A study from last year drawing on analysis from internet-assessment portal Ookla showed that T-Mobile has the fastest mobile network for internet in the Czech Republic. Vodafone was ranked as the most consistent and had the best upload speeds, and O2 was found to have the best latency.

Users of the Vodafone mobile network will likely let out an exasperated sigh at the announced increase. Czechia is well-documented for having one of the most expensive mobile data tariffs in the whole EU. People living in the country pay 150 percent more than the EU average, most likely due to the monopoly of the “big three” network providers and subsequent lack of competition.

The Czech Telecommunications Authority (ČTÚ) announced last month that it was attempting to fight against the “tacit agreement” among the main three operators that keep prices elevated. 

According to the ČTÚ, however, proposed regulation has not been sanctioned by the European Commission, which keeps the market expensive today.

Vodafone’s price rise is one of many cost increases that consumers have had to bear since last year. With Vodafone’s two main competitors also recently increasing prices, customers will likely find themselves with no choice but to accept the price rises.