Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) is planning to offer its all-you-can-eat music service free of charge in a bid to drive customer uptake in the UK. Although Vodafone’s MusicStation service was launched with a £1.99 per week charge, the operator will offer it free on 18-month contracts of £40 ($80) or higher using certain handsets. MusicStation offers unlimited downloads for a subscription price, but if the person stops paying the subscription they stop being able to play the songs.

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Vodafone’s exclusive deal with Omnifone to offer MusicStation was apparently snapped up at the last minute from Carphone Warehouse, which had planned to offer the service free to subscribers who took up premium contracts for the retailer’s own mobile service, writes Mobile Today. Vodafone has exclusive deals for three handsets: the 8GB Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N95, the Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC) W910 in gold and Samsung’s F700.

Vodafone’s free move is clearly intended to help it better compete with O2 and the iPhone during the traditional Christmas mobile sales rush. It’s of course hoping that despite the lacklustre record so far for operator-portal music services, the MusicStation subscription model will strike a chord with users.

Nick Read, speaking at a recent analyst briefing (quoted in Mobile Today): “[MusicStation] allows us to do some quite creative promotional work, i.e free unlimited music for a given period…That, coupled with an exclusive real download-to-home service, coupled with three very big exclusive handsets, sets us up well for Christmas.”