• TV
  • MOVIES
  • MUSIC
  • SHOWBIZ
  • SOAPS
  • GAMING
  • TECH
  • FORUMS
  • Follow
    • Follow
    • facebook
    • twitter
    • google+
    • instagram
    • youtube
Hearst Corporation
  • TV
  • MOVIES
  • MUSIC
  • SHOWBIZ
  • SOAPS
  • GAMING
  • TECH
  • FORUMS
Forums
  • Register
  • Login
  • Forums
  • Gadgets
  • Mobile Phones
Which pay-as-you-go network / tariff is best for us?
stevenoon
01-03-2008
Hi all,

Myself and my parents are all with Virgin Mobile at the moment but both my Mum and me have had network problems recently.

Over the past week or two on my phone I've noticed that the signal keeps disappearing completely during the daytime and my Mum knows of at least two people who have been unable to contact her.

Due to these problems I've decided to look at our options. I've been with Virgin for at least 5 years without many problems - their customer service has been consistently exceptional and I like their easy-to-understand tariff and website.

Most of all I'm looking for a consistent and reliable network with good customer service.

Tariff-wise, we are light users, perhaps very light. I personally only need to top-up my phone, usually by £5, once every two to three months. My Mum spends the most - probably £20 a month, and my Dad about £10 a month at the most. On which basis, I would need a network that allows £5 top-ups, either by printed voucher or by debit/credit card - I'm not sure that they all do these days.

Call charges-wise - cheaper cross-network calls would be good - I don't fancy the idea of 30 or 40ppm to call another mobile network.

Not worried too much about text message costs or text bundles - we only send about 5-10 messages a week each, so text message bundles that need to be used within a set time period would be a waste for us.

The option of call bundles paid for from credit for example £10 for 60 minutes of any network anytime calls would be nice - in case we need to make more calls that normal during a set time period for instance if we are away from home.

The main other network we call is Vodafone, which my brother is on, and of course BT landlines. I also call a lot of local-rate non-geographical numbers like 0845x. I also use GPRS WAP a bit but my parents don't.

From my initial research Orange looks good tariff-wise, but the tariffs I've seen from Vodafone and O2 look expensive in like-for-like comparison, excluding any bundles.

Unless I am wrong, Orange compares to Virgin very closely, and I like the Virgin tariff - that's the main reason I've stuff with them for so long, that and the customer service.

I think I can rule-out T-Mobile as they use the same network as Virgin and the main reason I want to leave Virgin is network issues.


I hope this explains our needs - any questions please let me know.

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Kind regards,

Steve.
jonespr1
01-03-2008
From what you say Orange sounds like a good option, details here http://shop.orange.co.uk/shop/payasyougo

£5 top-up is possible

Any network anytime is 15p/min

You can have 3 magic numbers so you could all choose each other and calls would cost a maximum of 15p for up to an hour (this is subject to a minimum monthly top-up of £10)

A promotion started today so all customers signing up win a prize ranging from £1 call credit to a Wii (10 been given away each day).

Extra bundles of data/calls/texts can be added, pricing is here http://www1.orange.co.uk/service_pla..._overview.html

Robert
midlands_lad
01-03-2008
Hi,

I keep a spare pay as you talk number on Vodafone. The price plans available would be Anytime and Anynet - Anynet would give you 30p per minute for calls to all networks with evening and weekend calls at 10p a minute. Anytime is 30p per minute for the first three minutes before reverting to 10p per minute for the rest of the call. There's more information below

Vodafone Pay As You Talk (Anytime and Anynet)

Vodafone Pay As You Talk extras

Vodafone Family is a useful option if you've got other people (friends or family members) who are also using Vodafone. One person pays £5.00 a month which then gives a group of four connected Vodafone numbers unlimited calls amongst each other. Likewise the one person can pay £7.00 a month and a group of six people can then have unlimited calls amongst each other. There's more information on how to set this up available at Vodafone Family FAQs

Hope this helps give you a little more information when you explore your options
Lawe13
01-03-2008
Orange offers a similar service to the Vodafone one mentioned above called Your Group. Upto 4 PAYM and 4 PAYG and it's free of charge. All the members of the group can call each other free and unlimited.

Only stipulation being that it must be started by a PAYM phone, and must always have one PAYM phone in it.

This leaves you free to have other people as your magic numbers.
Adam D
01-03-2008
Im sure someone else will mention it, but you must have a fantastic tarrif if you top up £5 every one or two months and you ring a small amount, Ring 08xx numbers, send 10/15 texts a week and use the internet a small amount
dslrocks
02-03-2008
Quote:
“I also call a lot of local-rate non-geographical numbers like 0845x”

In which case, stop pouring your money down the drain!

Calling 0845s from mobiles is very expensive, in fact, you might as well be calling busty Sheila for the amount you shell out per minute (40p on tmobile ). And 20ppm on 0870, an eye watering 35ppm on 0871 for my current provider, 02.

Considering a lot of companies like to keep you on hold listening to crappy pan-pipe cover versions of Careless Whisper for minutes on end, it makes perfect financial sense to ring the geographical equivalent.

www.saynoto0870.com is very useful in such situations.
stevenoon
02-03-2008
To be honest, the usage figures that I specified were estimates and the extreme rather than the norm. Most text messages are probably sent by my Mum rather than me and the 0845x numbers I only call in an emergency like a bank or technical support or something while I'm away from my landline. I mention 0845x numbers because when looking at my call usage on both my landline and mobile personally I seem to make lots more calls to 0845x numbers and to mobiles than to landlines. My Mum and Dad spend more on top-up's than I do - I probably spend at most £5 a month but I have been known to make £5 last three or four months because I have a BT landline and spend most of my time at home due to health problems. I'm merely looking for a tariff that we can all use (perhaps on the same network to benefit from cheaper cross network calls - but on some tariffs these are the same price as standard calls) but my main concern is the recent reliablity of Virgin where I live which is the main reason for the change.

Sorry for any confusion.

Kind regards,

Steve.
bluechang
02-03-2008
i would suggest t mobile payg, but would mean you would need to unlock all the handsets if they arent already done.

T mobile do the Everyone priceplan (cant give a link as t mobile website wont work and cant find the details on CPW)

15p per minute to other uk networks, landlines and to other t mobile users, 10 per text to uk n umbers, 20 per mms(picture) Cant give you prices for 0845 numbers as the sheet i have doesnt show those numbers.

The only other network which comes close on price, but i dont have any experience of, is Orange. The prices per minute are the same as TMob, with the exception of mms (picture) they are 30p per message.

My OH is on TMob payg and she has said you can do £5 topups online and also over the phone (text or call centre) AFAIK Orange do the same.


If all three of you were wanting to switch mobiles, you could also look at THREE payg. The have a flat 12 price plan, which means all calls to uk mobile, uk landline and uk text messages are charged at 12p per minute/message. mms (picture messaing is charged at 25p per message) However, in order to take advantage of this, you would (AFAIK) need to buy a new handset that will work on three (unless they have chaged it so that non 3g handsets can be used with 3 sims)
jonespr1
03-03-2008
Originally Posted by bluechang:
“i would suggest t mobile payg, but would mean you would need to unlock all the handsets if they arent already done.

T mobile do the Everyone priceplan (cant give a link as t mobile website wont work and cant find the details on CPW)

15p per minute to other uk networks, landlines and to other t mobile users, 10 per text to uk n umbers, 20 per mms(picture) Cant give you prices for 0845 numbers as the sheet i have doesnt show those numbers.

The only other network which comes close on price, but i dont have any experience of, is Orange. The prices per minute are the same as TMob, with the exception of mms (picture) they are 30p per message.

My OH is on TMob payg and she has said you can do £5 topups online and also over the phone (text or call centre) AFAIK Orange do the same.


If all three of you were wanting to switch mobiles, you could also look at THREE payg. The have a flat 12 price plan, which means all calls to uk mobile, uk landline and uk text messages are charged at 12p per minute/message. mms (picture messaing is charged at 25p per message) However, in order to take advantage of this, you would (AFAIK) need to buy a new handset that will work on three (unless they have chaged it so that non 3g handsets can be used with 3 sims)”

It's unlikely this would suit the OP as they are having problems with the reliability of the Virgin network, which backs off the T-Mobile network.

Robert
bluechang
03-03-2008
Originally Posted by jonespr1:
“It's unlikely this would suit the OP as they are having problems with the reliability of the Virgin network, which backs off the T-Mobile network.

Robert”

but if you reread the post I have also suggested the Orange network as well, which is the same sort of tarriff as t mobile, but slightly more expensive for mms (who uses mms anyway!?) And also the 3 network if they were prepared to buy a new handset.
Pencil
03-03-2008
Your mum would save money by switching to o2's Pay Monthly Simplicity tariff. For £15 a month, calls to other o2 phones are free, voicemail is free, customer service is free and plenty of text messages and minutes are included.

Your dad would be better off switching to o2's Talk Anytime tariff on PAYG. For £10 a month, he would get 50 free minutes to call anyone, anytime. Of course, the more he tops up, the more minutes he gets.

If you rarely use your phone, you should probably switch to Tesco Mobile. Calls to 3 favourite numbers (on any network) are 10p a minute. Text messages are 5p
VIEW DESKTOP SITE TOP

JOIN US HERE

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Hearst Corporation

Hearst Corporation

DIGITAL SPY, PART OF THE HEARST UK ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK

© 2015 Hearst Magazines UK is the trading name of the National Magazine Company Ltd, 72 Broadwick Street, London, W1F 9EP. Registered in England 112955. All rights reserved.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Complaints
  • Site Map