It's time for the girlfriend to get an upgrade, she's on O2 and she really wanted the N96.

The cheapest O2 could give us the phone for free was £72 a month!! Vodafone can do more or less the same deal plus a free phone at £35 a month.

I phoned O2 to see why there was such a massive difference. At first the lady didn't want to believe me but after checking the website she admitted that there was a massive price difference. She couldn't budge on price (I didn't think she would at that difference) so we got a PAC code to move to vodafone. I think the lady on the phone almost suggested I was wise moving to Vodafone!

Question is, why is there such a massive price difference? Does vodafone and Nokia have a special deal or something?

the networks and the manufacturers do negotiate separately but what O2 were after was entirely uncompetitive.

i read that they had spent their entire acquisitions budget on the iPhone late last year. whether that is still relevant i don't know.

You've kind of answered your own question - when touting for new customers, companies will off much more. They want your business for life so they'll whore themselves as much as possible.

When it comes to renewals, they are hoping you'll be under the impression that moving will be too much hassle plus the fact most people like to stay in a routine, and keeping with the same company (usually one they've had no hassle from) is often attractive.

It doesn't just happen with mobiles, it's the same with car insurance too. Plenty of new customer discounts and freebies etc.

Like on the Nationwide advert, "New customers only"....