Which phone company works out cheapest?

Harry.Kewell · 27-01-2005, 14:01

which phone company works out cheapest, because i have been on vodaphone wen they first started and woz payin £15 pound a month 2 keep it, so wen vodaphone all calls opened i switched 2 that. i then went onto virgin mobile but i dont like the fact that you cant use most of the texting services to get ringtones or vote fot things on the television and stuff like that, and im now on orange just talk, i was considering o2, but i decided to go with orange, basically because of the phone, so which company would you say works out cheapest?

i have been put off t-mobile as i find them way overpriced.

flagpole · 27-01-2005, 14:06

Well it's not that simple is it, they all work out differently for different people.

You will find that as far as i know non of the netwroks will let you use their inclusive txts for voting for stuff on the tv.

but the o2 300 free texts might be good for you.

testpie · 27-01-2005, 20:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry.Kewell

which phone company works out cheapest, because i have been on vodaphone wen they first started and woz payin £15 pound a month 2 keep it, so wen vodaphone all calls opened i switched 2 that. i then went onto virgin mobile but i dont like the fact that you cant use most of the texting services to get ringtones or vote fot things on the television and stuff like that, and im now on orange just talk, i was considering o2, but i decided to go with orange, basically because of the phone, so which company would you say works out cheapest?

i have been put off t-mobile as i find them way overpriced.

Q1) What do you use your phone the most for?
If it is mainly texts, go for the 02 Online PAYGO package. as with a £10 top-up per month, you'll get 300 free texts (ie you get 300 texts and £10 of credit to spend on whatever) and 1MB Free GPRS per month.

If, however, you mainly call people, try out Fresh - (http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/com...ORK.JAN.PAYG#3) they have extremely cheap tariffs, and from past information i can tell you that they use either O2 or T-Mobile's network.

Q2) Do you mind a deterioration in signal quality for a cheaper cost?
If not, you may be best off focussing on Virgin Mobile, Fresh and Tesco Mobile, as these have the least coverage to cost ratio (ie. you pay less, but have less coverage).

However, if you don't mind paying slightly more for more signal strength, focus mainly on Vodafone and Orange, as these have some of the best networks in the UK in terms of coverage and average signal strength.

Q3) Do you need to have the latest 3G phone?
If so, consider Vodafone Live! first and then Three - Vodafone Live! is generally cheaper than Three, especially when it comes to PAYGO tarrifs, as Three require that you top-up at least £15 per month to even make calls, and when not in coverage of a Three mast, they use the slightly weaker (than Vodafone) O2 network.

Obviously some of this is opinion, but if you ask around and research you will probably find much of this to be true - i of course use my, and friends, past experiences to draw these conclusions.

Last edited by testpie : 27-01-2005 at 20:59.

wavejockglw · 27-01-2005, 20:34

Just remember the cheapest is not always the best option. Some offer more for less but in reality the service quality is poor and customer service worse than useless.

You always pay a bit extra for proven reliability and service and millions choose to do that every day buying known branded products rather than cheap own labels.... worth some consideration when your phone is your device that keeps you in touch.

jackslick · 28-01-2005, 09:43

Orange are offering text bundles for PAYG customers, a bundle of 400 will cost £12 with no validity period. ok if its cheap texts you want.

dslrocks · 28-01-2005, 20:30

Quote:

i then went onto virgin mobile but i dont like the fact that you cant use most of the texting services to get ringtones or vote fot things on the television and stuff like that

But why would you want to pay £4 or so for some crappy ringtone?

steve007 · 28-01-2005, 21:20

Cheap doesnt always come without some sacrifice of quality of service. Overall I'd advise to go with Orange or Virgin.

paulsanderson · 30-01-2005, 00:47

i am on virgin and so are my family and friends.. ok the signal may be weak
and some places you cannott use your phone properly....
but overall. 3p per text.. and 15 p per min for the first 5 mins
is a lot cheaper than orange and voderfone... which are very expensive...

Harry.Kewell · 30-01-2005, 02:46

but orange iz 25p for the first 3 minutes which works out exactly the same, and it is also 3p per message

testpie · 30-01-2005, 10:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry.Kewell

but orange iz 25p for the first 3 minutes which works out exactly the same, and it is also 3p per message

3p a text for your first six months, and it costs money on Orange to call your answerphone, whereas on Virgin it is free to call the answerphone.

mattworld · 30-01-2005, 12:57

Also, orange's bundles are far more expensive than Virgin's, plus they only last for one month and don't roll over to the next month, whereas Virgin's do.

I think T-Mobile (whose network Virgin uses) have improved their network loads since they were rebranded from one2(no)one, Deutsche Telekom have have made a serious investment in it & while it's not as good as it could be, its getting there and most people shouldn't see any difference. I've gone grom no signal to almost full signal in about a year, which is why I switched back to Virgin.

As for who I find better value, it was a toss up between Virgin's bundles & O2 Online. O2's free texts would probably have been slightly better value in terms of making my £ go further, but their customer service is terrible & their network really annoys me & I guess it was the anoying balance updates you get everytime something happens on your phone that kept me away.

30-01-2005, 18:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by testpie

3p a text for your first six months, and it costs money on Orange to call your answerphone, whereas on Virgin it is free to call the answerphone.

Orange has 3p text to all networks. Virgin only do 3p text to other Virgin'. I don't know anyone with a Virgin handset.

sean2003 · 30-01-2005, 18:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry.Kewell

but orange iz 25p for the first 3 minutes which works out exactly the same, and it is also 3p per message

Works out exactly the same?

Ok, you spend 2 mins of standard calls in a day.

50p orange, 30p virgin.

you spend 10mins in a day making standard calls

£1.10 orange, £1.00 virgin.

cant i add up?

mcfc2134 · 30-01-2005, 18:40

As I've mentioned in another thread, its currently worth checking out BT's special offers.

Most of these "cheaper" networks don't suffer from a worse signal as they run on the major networks infrastructure.

BT use T-Mobile, but are soon to change to Voda. They simple use the existing networks but have there own charging system.

Necer E228 · 30-01-2005, 19:17

TELE works very very cheap... callz: 0.1pound per minute , SMS : 0.03pounds per SMS... MMS: 0.1pound... so...

sean2003 · 30-01-2005, 19:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necer E228

TELE works very very cheap... callz: 0.1pound per minute , SMS : 0.03pounds per SMS... MMS: 0.1pound... so...

TELE? .. .. ..

testpie · 30-01-2005, 19:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necer E228

TELE works very very cheap... callz: 0.1pound per minute , SMS : 0.03pounds per SMS... MMS: 0.1pound... so...

Are you referring to TELE2? If so, these aren't a mobile phone company - they are purely landline.

steveyboy99 · 31-01-2005, 11:50

[quote=testpie][b]Q2) Do you mind a deterioration in signal quality for a cheaper cost?
If not, you may be best off focussing on Virgin Mobile, Fresh and Tesco Mobile, as these have the least coverage to cost ratio (ie. you pay less, but have less coverage).

How do you work that out??? Tesco uses O2 and has exactly the same coverage as them, the same with Virgin Mob and Fresh with their counterpart.

Necer E228 · 31-01-2005, 14:03

testpie where are you from???

testpie · 31-01-2005, 16:19

[quote=steveyboy99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by testpie

[b]Q2) Do you mind a deterioration in signal quality for a cheaper cost?
If not, you may be best off focussing on Virgin Mobile, Fresh and Tesco Mobile, as these have the least coverage to cost ratio (ie. you pay less, but have less coverage).

How do you work that out??? Tesco uses O2 and has exactly the same coverage as them, the same with Virgin Mob and Fresh with their counterpart.

I've always regarded o2 as having lower coverage anyway, and the same goes for T-Mobile (which Fresh and Virgin Mobile use) - in rank order, from bottom to top, i have found that:
T-Mobile [Worst coverage]
o2
Orange
Vodafone [Best coverage]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necer E228

testpie where are you from???

North England, United Kingdom. And you?

lee18xx · 31-01-2005, 16:24

I agree with everything testpie has said in this post... o2 have sh*t coverage and if you want the best (ie Voda and Orange) then you have to pay that little bit extra.

Now I'm an original Vodafone fan boy... but it has always been the best for coverage, customer services and variety of handsets so in the long-run, I'd say it is the cheapest.

steveyboy99 · 31-01-2005, 16:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by lee18xx

I agree with everything testpie has said in this post... o2 have sh*t coverage and if you want the best (ie Voda and Orange) then you have to pay that little bit extra.

Now I'm an original Vodafone fan boy... but it has always been the best for coverage, customer services and variety of handsets so in the long-run, I'd say it is the cheapest.

O2 - No other mobile network covers more of the UK population. With over 6,000 base stations currently installed, O2 already has 99% of the UK population and 86% of the UK landmass covered.

They may be sh*** for customer service but the coverage is as good as any other.

sean2003 · 31-01-2005, 17:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveyboy99

O2 - No other mobile network covers more of the UK population. With over 6,000 base stations currently installed, O2 already has 99% of the UK population and 86% of the UK landmass covered.

They may be sh*** for customer service but the coverage is as good as any other.

Depends on area really.

Like in city centre some networks cover some shops downstarits, or with very thick walls better than others.

Like in fenwick, signal ok on Orange, but no T-Mobile coverage.

Calls on Orange sound like landline calls, o2 sounds like very different, and not too good in my opionion.

lee18xx · 31-01-2005, 17:06

Quote:

O2 - No other mobile network covers more of the UK population. With over 6,000 base stations currently installed, O2 already has 99% of the UK population and 86% of the UK landmass covered.

They may be sh*** for customer service but the coverage is as good as any other.

That is true...but the quality of o2's coverage is debatable... throughout my town I never have more than 2 bars (out of 5) coverage...whereas on Vodafone it was always 4s and 5s, and T-Mobile was too always more than 3.

I can always tell when speaking to somebody on the o2 network..the sound is crap and sounds like I'm speaking to somebody a million miles away

steveyboy99 · 31-01-2005, 17:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by lee18xx

That is true...but the quality of o2's coverage is debatable... throughout my town I never have more than 2 bars (out of 5) coverage...whereas on Vodafone it was always 4s and 5s, and T-Mobile was too always more than 3.

I can always tell when speaking to somebody on the o2 network..the sound is crap and sounds like I'm speaking to somebody a million miles away

Prob just the town where u are. In my village there is 0 Vodafone coverage.

27-01-2005, 14:01	#1
Harry.Kewell Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 942	Which phone company works out cheapest? which phone company works out cheapest, because i have been on vodaphone wen they first started and woz payin £15 pound a month 2 keep it, so wen vodaphone all calls opened i switched 2 that. i then went onto virgin mobile but i dont like the fact that you cant use most of the texting services to get ringtones or vote fot things on the television and stuff like that, and im now on orange just talk, i was considering o2, but i decided to go with orange, basically because of the phone, so which company would you say works out cheapest? i have been put off t-mobile as i find them way overpriced.

27-01-2005, 14:06	#2
flagpole Inactive Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 43,524	Well it's not that simple is it, they all work out differently for different people. You will find that as far as i know non of the netwroks will let you use their inclusive txts for voting for stuff on the tv. but the o2 300 free texts might be good for you.

27-01-2005, 20:22	#3
testpie Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 704	Quote: Originally Posted by Harry.Kewell which phone company works out cheapest, because i have been on vodaphone wen they first started and woz payin £15 pound a month 2 keep it, so wen vodaphone all calls opened i switched 2 that. i then went onto virgin mobile but i dont like the fact that you cant use most of the texting services to get ringtones or vote fot things on the television and stuff like that, and im now on orange just talk, i was considering o2, but i decided to go with orange, basically because of the phone, so which company would you say works out cheapest? i have been put off t-mobile as i find them way overpriced. Q1) What do you use your phone the most for? If it is mainly texts, go for the 02 Online PAYGO package. as with a £10 top-up per month, you'll get 300 free texts (ie you get 300 texts and £10 of credit to spend on whatever) and 1MB Free GPRS per month. If, however, you mainly call people, try out Fresh - (http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/com...ORK.JAN.PAYG#3) they have extremely cheap tariffs, and from past information i can tell you that they use either O2 or T-Mobile's network. Q2) Do you mind a deterioration in signal quality for a cheaper cost? If not, you may be best off focussing on Virgin Mobile, Fresh and Tesco Mobile, as these have the least coverage to cost ratio (ie. you pay less, but have less coverage). However, if you don't mind paying slightly more for more signal strength, focus mainly on Vodafone and Orange, as these have some of the best networks in the UK in terms of coverage and average signal strength. Q3) Do you need to have the latest 3G phone? If so, consider Vodafone Live! first and then Three - Vodafone Live! is generally cheaper than Three, especially when it comes to PAYGO tarrifs, as Three require that you top-up at least £15 per month to even make calls, and when not in coverage of a Three mast, they use the slightly weaker (than Vodafone) O2 network. Obviously some of this is opinion, but if you ask around and research you will probably find much of this to be true - i of course use my, and friends, past experiences to draw these conclusions. Last edited by testpie : 27-01-2005 at 20:59.

27-01-2005, 20:34	#4
wavejockglw Inactive Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Glasgow Posts: 10,276	Just remember the cheapest is not always the best option. Some offer more for less but in reality the service quality is poor and customer service worse than useless. You always pay a bit extra for proven reliability and service and millions choose to do that every day buying known branded products rather than cheap own labels.... worth some consideration when your phone is your device that keeps you in touch.

28-01-2005, 09:43	#5
jackslick Banned User Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Newcastle Posts: 90	Orange are offering text bundles for PAYG customers, a bundle of 400 will cost £12 with no validity period. ok if its cheap texts you want.

28-01-2005, 20:30	#6
dslrocks Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Between the gutter and stars Posts: 6,825	Quote: i then went onto virgin mobile but i dont like the fact that you cant use most of the texting services to get ringtones or vote fot things on the television and stuff like that But why would you want to pay £4 or so for some crappy ringtone?

28-01-2005, 21:20	#7
steve007 Banned User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hereford Posts: 1,681	Cheap doesnt always come without some sacrifice of quality of service. Overall I'd advise to go with Orange or Virgin.

30-01-2005, 00:47	#8
paulsanderson Banned User Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: cheshire. north west Posts: 2,773	i am on virgin and so are my family and friends.. ok the signal may be weak and some places you cannott use your phone properly.... but overall. 3p per text.. and 15 p per min for the first 5 mins is a lot cheaper than orange and voderfone... which are very expensive...

30-01-2005, 02:46	#9
Harry.Kewell Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 942	but orange iz 25p for the first 3 minutes which works out exactly the same, and it is also 3p per message

30-01-2005, 10:31	#10
testpie Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 704	Quote: Originally Posted by Harry.Kewell but orange iz 25p for the first 3 minutes which works out exactly the same, and it is also 3p per message 3p a text for your first six months, and it costs money on Orange to call your answerphone, whereas on Virgin it is free to call the answerphone.

30-01-2005, 12:57	#11
mattworld Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Portsmouth Posts: 701	Also, orange's bundles are far more expensive than Virgin's, plus they only last for one month and don't roll over to the next month, whereas Virgin's do. I think T-Mobile (whose network Virgin uses) have improved their network loads since they were rebranded from one2(no)one, Deutsche Telekom have have made a serious investment in it & while it's not as good as it could be, its getting there and most people shouldn't see any difference. I've gone grom no signal to almost full signal in about a year, which is why I switched back to Virgin. As for who I find better value, it was a toss up between Virgin's bundles & O2 Online. O2's free texts would probably have been slightly better value in terms of making my £ go further, but their customer service is terrible & their network really annoys me & I guess it was the anoying balance updates you get everytime something happens on your phone that kept me away.

30-01-2005, 18:21	#12
rossonthenet Posts: n/a	Quote: Originally Posted by testpie 3p a text for your first six months, and it costs money on Orange to call your answerphone, whereas on Virgin it is free to call the answerphone. Orange has 3p text to all networks. Virgin only do 3p text to other Virgin'. I don't know anyone with a Virgin handset.

30-01-2005, 18:28	#13
sean2003 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Reading Posts: 2,618	Quote: Originally Posted by Harry.Kewell but orange iz 25p for the first 3 minutes which works out exactly the same, and it is also 3p per message Works out exactly the same? Ok, you spend 2 mins of standard calls in a day. 50p orange, 30p virgin. you spend 10mins in a day making standard calls £1.10 orange, £1.00 virgin. cant i add up?

30-01-2005, 18:40	#14
mcfc2134 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: East Midlands Posts: 410	As I've mentioned in another thread, its currently worth checking out BT's special offers. Most of these "cheaper" networks don't suffer from a worse signal as they run on the major networks infrastructure. BT use T-Mobile, but are soon to change to Voda. They simple use the existing networks but have there own charging system.

30-01-2005, 19:17	#15
Necer E228 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 27	TELE works very very cheap... callz: 0.1pound per minute , SMS : 0.03pounds per SMS... MMS: 0.1pound... so...

30-01-2005, 19:23	#16
sean2003 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Reading Posts: 2,618	Quote: Originally Posted by Necer E228 TELE works very very cheap... callz: 0.1pound per minute , SMS : 0.03pounds per SMS... MMS: 0.1pound... so... TELE? .. .. ..

30-01-2005, 19:42	#17
testpie Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 704	Quote: Originally Posted by Necer E228 TELE works very very cheap... callz: 0.1pound per minute , SMS : 0.03pounds per SMS... MMS: 0.1pound... so... Are you referring to TELE2? If so, these aren't a mobile phone company - they are purely landline.

31-01-2005, 11:50	#18
steveyboy99 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 188	[quote=testpie][b]Q2) Do you mind a deterioration in signal quality for a cheaper cost? If not, you may be best off focussing on Virgin Mobile, Fresh and Tesco Mobile, as these have the least coverage to cost ratio (ie. you pay less, but have less coverage). How do you work that out??? Tesco uses O2 and has exactly the same coverage as them, the same with Virgin Mob and Fresh with their counterpart.

31-01-2005, 14:03	#19
Necer E228 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 27	testpie where are you from???

31-01-2005, 16:19	#20
testpie Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 704	[quote=steveyboy99] Quote: Originally Posted by testpie [b]Q2) Do you mind a deterioration in signal quality for a cheaper cost? If not, you may be best off focussing on Virgin Mobile, Fresh and Tesco Mobile, as these have the least coverage to cost ratio (ie. you pay less, but have less coverage). How do you work that out??? Tesco uses O2 and has exactly the same coverage as them, the same with Virgin Mob and Fresh with their counterpart. I've always regarded o2 as having lower coverage anyway, and the same goes for T-Mobile (which Fresh and Virgin Mobile use) - in rank order, from bottom to top, i have found that: T-Mobile [Worst coverage] o2 Orange Vodafone [Best coverage] Quote: Originally Posted by Necer E228 testpie where are you from??? North England, United Kingdom. And you?

31-01-2005, 16:24	#21
lee18xx Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 2,794	I agree with everything testpie has said in this post... o2 have sh*t coverage and if you want the best (ie Voda and Orange) then you have to pay that little bit extra. Now I'm an original Vodafone fan boy... but it has always been the best for coverage, customer services and variety of handsets so in the long-run, I'd say it is the cheapest.

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Which phone company works out cheapest?

31-01-2005, 16:57	#22
steveyboy99 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 188	Quote: Originally Posted by lee18xx I agree with everything testpie has said in this post... o2 have sht coverage and if you want the best (ie Voda and Orange) then you have to pay that little bit extra. Now I'm an original Vodafone fan boy... but it has always been the best for coverage, customer services and variety of handsets so in the long-run, I'd say it is the cheapest. O2 - No other mobile network covers more of the UK population. With over 6,000 base stations currently installed, O2 already has 99% of the UK population and 86% of the UK landmass covered. They may be sh** for customer service but the coverage is as good as any other.

31-01-2005, 17:01	#23
sean2003 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Reading Posts: 2,618	Quote: Originally Posted by steveyboy99 O2 - No other mobile network covers more of the UK population. With over 6,000 base stations currently installed, O2 already has 99% of the UK population and 86% of the UK landmass covered. They may be sh*** for customer service but the coverage is as good as any other. Depends on area really. Like in city centre some networks cover some shops downstarits, or with very thick walls better than others. Like in fenwick, signal ok on Orange, but no T-Mobile coverage. Calls on Orange sound like landline calls, o2 sounds like very different, and not too good in my opionion.

31-01-2005, 17:06	#24
lee18xx Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 2,794	Quote: O2 - No other mobile network covers more of the UK population. With over 6,000 base stations currently installed, O2 already has 99% of the UK population and 86% of the UK landmass covered. They may be sh*** for customer service but the coverage is as good as any other. That is true...but the quality of o2's coverage is debatable... throughout my town I never have more than 2 bars (out of 5) coverage...whereas on Vodafone it was always 4s and 5s, and T-Mobile was too always more than 3. I can always tell when speaking to somebody on the o2 network..the sound is crap and sounds like I'm speaking to somebody a million miles away

31-01-2005, 17:07	#25
steveyboy99 Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 188	Quote: Originally Posted by lee18xx That is true...but the quality of o2's coverage is debatable... throughout my town I never have more than 2 bars (out of 5) coverage...whereas on Vodafone it was always 4s and 5s, and T-Mobile was too always more than 3. I can always tell when speaking to somebody on the o2 network..the sound is crap and sounds like I'm speaking to somebody a million miles away Prob just the town where u are. In my village there is 0 Vodafone coverage.