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Cellular Phone Forum / Country Specific / UK Group / May 2008SIM only PAYG advice sought
Dear uk.telecom.mobile I seek the newsgroups advice on the best tariff/network to suit my needs! I previously had a company supplied phone and paid the company back for any personal calls. I have now recently retired and I'm looking for a SIM only, PAYG deal (I have bought a Nokia 6021 phone off e Bay that fits to my ex-company car kit). I only use the phone for a couple or three calls per week and a similar number of texts. I do also use my mobile occasionally when overseas on holiday - Europe/USA and occasionally the Far East and Australasia - mainly a text every few days to keep in touch, and the very occasional phone call. Having looked around on the Internet I've come up with the following that I think would suit my needs: Tesco Standard - 20p/min calls, 10p/text with half price to three favourite numbers T mobile Everyone - 15p/min calls, 10p/text I would welcome the groups opinions on these and welcome any suggestions on alternatives that I may have overlooked. Thanks in advance. Nigel. > Dear uk.telecom.mobile > [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > Nigel. The Tesco tariffs are good value and you can swap between them easily enough. If you only want voice and texts you could use the value tariff most of the time and swap to the standard tariff to go abroad then swap back when you come home. The Asda tariff is also good value. Calls are 16p for the first 3 minutes per day then 8p. Texts are 10p for the first 3 then 5p for the rest of the day. >> Dear uk.telecom.mobile >> [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > per day then 8p. Texts are 10p for the first 3 then 5p for the rest of the > day. Virgin is cheaper and SIM cards re often given away free - I have used 4 and have another 5 all with £5 credit on them. >>> Dear uk.telecom.mobile >>> [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > Virgin is cheaper and SIM cards re often given away free - I have used 4 and > have another 5 all with £5 credit on them. The cheapest depends very much on your usage pattern. From the networks mentioned if you only make short calls to a few numbers Tesco standard with favourites could be cheapest. Virgin could be cheaper for a wider range of numbers up to about 15 minutes in a day, anything more than 15 minutes cross network then Asda is cheaper. To be honest for occasional low use the difference is is fairly small, much more important to find a network that works where you need it to. > To be honest for occasional low use the difference is is fairly small, > much more important to find a network that works where you need it to. Thanks to the newsgroup for the advice so far. The Tesco network runs on O2 vs. T Mobile - any significant difference between the two? I'm erring towards Tesco at the moment as I rarely call more than three different numbers so I think that this would work out the cheapest for me. Nigel. >> To be honest for occasional low use the difference is is fairly small, >> much more important to find a network that works where you need it to. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > The Tesco network runs on O2 vs. T Mobile - any significant difference > between the two? As the message you replied to says .... <<much more important to find a network that works where you need it to>>  SignatureJ B > As the message you replied to says .... <<much more important to find a > network that works where you need it to>> The network websites will show you a coverage map, but you can look up who has the nearest base stations to you on the Ofcom site, here: http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/ regards, Ian >> To be honest for occasional low use the difference is is fairly small, >> much more important to find a network that works where you need it to. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Nigel. For a similar situation (incoming SMS and a few outgoing per 6 months - which keeps the phone "alive") I bought a value SIM on-line - £5 gets a SIM and £10 credit :-) SignaturePeeGee The reply address is a spam trap. All mail is reported as spam. "Nothing should be able to load itself onto a computer without the knowledge or consent of the computer user. Software should also be able to be removed from a computer easily." Peter Cullen, Microsoft Chief Privacy Strategist (Computing 18 Aug 05) > > To be honest for occasional low use the difference is is fairly small, > > much more important to find a network that works where you need it to. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > I'm erring towards Tesco at the moment as I rarely call more than three > different numbers so I think that this would work out the cheapest for me. There are various "family" or "mates" tariffs which give you discounts on a small calling circle. May be worth looking into, but like others said for low usage probably won't a lot of difference who you choose. Nobody ever seems to recommend Vodafone on this group - but for off-peak and roaming PAYG they are hard to beat (although they are putting their min charge up to 15p - so if you make lots of short calls they aren't so good). My wife's a low user but probably 80% of her spend is while abroad (since there's no landline to gas on!), and nothing that I'm aware of can touch Vodafone Passport. Eg 10 min call from Australia £1.75 - try looking into what the others charge! -- Andy > Nobody ever seems to recommend Vodafone on this group That's because they are so expensive. > - but for > off-peak off-peak is off-peak becasue that's when most people don't want to use it ;-) Though that's not always true, of course. IME Vodafone is the network most likely to give NETWORK BUSY errors in the daytime. No idea why. > and roaming PAYG they are hard to beat Roaming PAYG may matter to some people, but for the vast majority, it doesn't. > (although they are > putting their min charge up to 15p - so if you make lots of short > calls they aren't so good). Most mobile calls are very short. > My wife's a low user but probably 80% of her spend is while abroad > (since there's no landline to gas on!), and nothing that I'm aware of > can touch Vodafone Passport. Eg 10 min call from Australia £1.75 - try > looking into what the others charge! Er, if you factor in the cost of getting to Australia the cost is very different. > > Nobody ever seems to recommend Vodafone on this group > > That's because they are so expensive. Only peak. If you're a mainly peak user, don't use them. > > - but for > > off-peak [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Though that's not always true, of course. Yup - off-peak is when businesses don't want to use it. A social user who is at work all day, or whose contacts are, is more likely to use their phone mainly at evenings and weekends - ie off-peak. > IME Vodafone is the network most likely to give NETWORK BUSY errors in > the daytime. No idea why. Not had that for about 4 years. Except on new year's eve. > > and roaming PAYG they are hard to beat > > Roaming PAYG may matter to some people, but for the vast majority, it > doesn't. The vast majority don't go on holiday abroad? With the rip-off charges for roaming (even after the EU rules) anyone who goes abroad on holiday regularly could end up finding a large proportion of their annual spend is on roaming calls, even though it's a small proportion of their call time. > > (although they are > > putting their min charge up to 15p - so if you make lots of short > > calls they aren't so good). > > Most mobile calls are very short. Again - you need to look at it in terms of cost. If you make 10 shorts a month and one long call, then the cost of the long call could be more significant than the 10 short calls. Eg 10 1 min calls and one 20 min call. Off-peak would be £1.80 total on Vodafone even with their new 15p min charge. What would it be on the other tariffs? > > My wife's a low user but probably 80% of her spend is while abroad > > (since there's no landline to gas on!), and nothing that I'm aware of [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Er, if you factor in the cost of getting to Australia the cost is very > different. That's exactly how the mobile companies want you to look at it. The holiday is costing you loads, so it doesn't matter if we rip you off while you're there. Same with banks and forex places ripping you off with exchange rate markups. I'm still waiting for someone to tell me how much the other tariffs recommended in this thread would charge for a 10 min call from Australia, compared to the "so expensive" Vodafone. -- Andy >> Nobody ever seems to recommend Vodafone on this group > [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > Er, if you factor in the cost of getting to Australia the cost is very > different. Or 10 minutes from Australia for 30p if on Three. I Travel a lot (sadly) for my work (marine insurance surveyor) and Three is the best value for roaming on the whole. I'd argue that Vodafone are the most expensive of the UK based networks IME. This so much so that my employers are booting Voda into touch wrt its 'travelling' employees. brgds Richard > >> My wife's a low user but probably 80% of her spend is while abroad > >> (since there's no landline to gas on!), and nothing that I'm aware of [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > > Or 10 minutes from Australia for 30p if on Three. On PAYG?? We are specifically discussing PAYG tariffs. > I Travel a lot (sadly) for > my work (marine insurance surveyor) and Three is the best value for roaming > on the whole. I'd argue that Vodafone are the most expensive of the UK based > networks IME. This so much so that my employers are booting Voda into touch > wrt its 'travelling' employees. My company contract Vodafone tariff is crap for roaming - it's cheaper using my wife's PAYG! -- Andy <snip> > Or 10 minutes from Australia for 30p if on Three. I Travel a lot (sadly) > for my work (marine insurance surveyor) and Three is the best value for [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > brgds > Richard Yes it's a shame he's limited himself to a Nokia 6021. I would go for 3 PAYG Flat 12p per min, and as you say good roaming rates especially on one of 3s own networks. and with Orange 2g roaming in the UK, the voice network coverage beats anything T Mobile or O2 can offer Steve Terry > > Richard > > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Steve Terry The reason for sticking to a Nokia 6021 is that I already have a car kit for this model fitted. I guess I could change the car kit, but I feel that the costs involved (new car kit/adapter + new phone) may be more than the potential call cost savings of 3 PAYG. >> > Richard >> > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > car kit/adapter + new phone) may be more than the potential call cost > savings of 3 PAYG. The last car kit i went for was a Stingray Bluetooth one, works on any Bluetooth phone. Then it's future proof. Steve Terry > >> > Richard > >> > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Steve Terry Steve: I understand the logic, but I have a 'hard wired' car kit already installed in my car (I've never used Bluetooth). If I moved over to 3 PAYG I'd have to buy a new phone and either a new fitting kit or a Bluetooth adapter. I think that these additional costs wouldn't make it worthwhile choosing three over T Mobile or Tesco. Nigel. > Most mobile calls are very short. Do any networks charge less than the full minute rate for short calls? ">> Virgin is cheaper and SIM cards re often given away free - I have used 4 and >> have another 5 all with £5 credit on them. Virgin voicemail retrieval is free. Thanks to everyone for your help and advice. Having narrowed my choices down to T Mobile Everyone and Tesco Standard I've done some calculations based on my calling pattern for the two networks. On T Mobile costs would be about £66 per year on Tesco £61 per year - nothing to chose between the two. If I call/text my three favourite numbers more than anticipated then I'll be better off with Tesco, if I call/text other numbers more then I'll be better off with T mobile. I guess it's a decision based on coverage (I'm in West Yorkshire - but do travel a bit as mentioned earlier) and customer service. T mobile have a shop in my local shopping centre, Tesco store is just down the road - but I guess I'd have to call their helpline if anyting did go wrong. Quandry: T Mobile or Tesco? Any further advice much appreciated. > Thanks to everyone for your help and advice. > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Any further advice much appreciated. I don't know if it will affect your calculations but T-Mobile are making changes to their tariffs from the 1st July http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/pay-as-you-go/price-plan-changes/ > > Thanks to everyone for your help and advice. > > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > changes to their tariffs from the 1st July > http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/pay-as-you-go/price-plan-changes/ The only change is a 1 minute minimum charge per call - I'd (by chance!) factored this into my above calculations. Nigel. |
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