SIM 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.

---

› See More: SIM only PAYG advice sought

Nigel wrote:
> 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.
>
>

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.

"majogh" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Nigel wrote:
>> 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.
>>
>>
>
> 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.
>
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.

Rob wrote:
> "majogh" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Nigel wrote:
>>> 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.
>>>
>>>
>> 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.
>>
> 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.

"Nigel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>> 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?

As the message you replied to says .... <<much more important to find a
network that works where you need it to>>


--
J B

J B wrote:

> 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

">> 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.

"Nigel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > 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.

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

Andy Pandy wrote:

> 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.

"Iain" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Andy Pandy wrote:
>
> > 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
>
> 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.

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
> > 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.

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

"Iain" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Andy Pandy wrote:
>
>> 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.
>
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

"Iain" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Most mobile calls are very short.

Do any networks charge less than the full minute rate for short calls?

"allatsea" <allatsea55@£msn$.&com&> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> >> 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.
> >
> 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

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.