I have always had a soft spot for Vodafone.
They provided my first mobile on a contract, and had (for me) the best range of phones back in 2003 and for the next few years.
I thought that their customer service was first class - They sent me out replacement batteries and chargers when my phone's originals got tired.
They were friendly, supportive and helpful.
I was a loyal customer.
Their pay monthly tariffs were ok (but offered abysmal allowances by today's standards), and their contracts were 12 months, but gradually increased to 18 months back then.
Then they let me down.
I shall reserve the rest of this story for a later date, but the fact remains that the Vodafone network is the only network in the UK that I have been able to use to make calls and send texts almost everywhere that I've been in the South of England and all of Wales.
There will always be people who have less than positive things to say about Vodafone's coverage, but the 2G frequencies that they use are the best for penetrating walls of houses, which still leaves Vodafone as the network of choice if you actually want to use your phone indoors.
When Vodafone disappointed me, I couldn't break away from the network: I worked at Winfrith Technology Centre in Dorset and Vodafone was the only network that had reliable coverage (at least indoors).
For this reason, I chose to save money and use a Vodafone MVNO, in this case Asda Mobile, as they were incredibly good value.
When I decided to move away from my Nokia Symbian smartphones and upgrade to a new-fangled Android smartphone, I had to stay with the Vodafone network, so I chose Talkmobile.
Vodafone has never had that many MVNOs piggybacking on its network.
Asda Mobile moved to the Orange (EE) network a few years ago, and struck a deal with broadband provider TalkTalk to offer SIM only and contract handset services.
Apart from a handful of ethnic MVNOs, Mobile by Sainsbury's is the biggest and most recent Vodafone MVNO.
I currently use Mobile by Sainsbury's for one of my phones, so the news that I read this evening on MVNODynamics shocked me: Vodafone potentially intends to cut ties with MVNOs!
In many ways, I'm hardly surprised. Vodafone has never really got on with them: Talkmobile was originally run through Carphone Warehouse, but was later sold on and now operates as an independent MVNO.
Mobile by Sainsbury's was always a late starter (Tesco and Asda had networks well before Sainsbury's), and one of the most successful Vodafone MVNOs - Ovivo - bit the dust without announcement, taking everyone's money and plenty of debt with them.
Vodafone is hotly contesting the rumours, even though TalkTalk's mobile customers were notified that they would be moving to the O2 network this year.
The full article is available HERE.
I will be very sorry to see Vodafone shut down MVNO ties - Vodafone has never been the cheapest network, but it is (for me, wherever I've gone) the most reliable for calls and texts.
It's also the first network to provide 4G anywhere that I've lived.
Vodafone has a good network, and I can't see myself getting a SIM only or contract deal with them in the near future as they are just too expensive.
My other mobiles are currently on giffgaff, which runs on O2, simply because it's a lot cheaper.
Ok, there's no actual guarantee that Vodafone will axe ties with MVNOs, but it's not a surprise if they did.
They have done so in the past, and these statements from TalkTalk do sound convincing enough for me to believe that Vodafone will be looking to cut back even more on its MVNO outlay.
