Need A Shared Minute Contract

Hypothetical_2

My Mrs. and I have PAYG mobiles.

I'm with Orange and she is with O2. I want to retain my mobile number but my wife isn't too concerned about keeping hers.

Am looking for a good value twelve month contract with one airtime provider to give us shared minutes and texts (say, 200 or more minutes and 100 texts).

Am looking for recommendations, please?

Stuart_W

I'm not aware of any cost effective shared minute options.

Giffgaff, Talkmobile and Virgin SIM cards many be worth considering.

If you will be using a lot of the calls and texts to each other, giffgaff's standard PAYG deal offers 8p/min calls and 4p/texts but free calls and texts to each other.

Talkmobile have a selection of SIMonly and PAYG deals, you could buy a talkmobile 300 min/300 text SIM for one handset - cost £7.50 a month - and then use a talkmobile PAYG essentials SIM in the otherone, offering 8p/min calls and 4p/texts but 4p/min calls and 2p/texts to any ther talkmobile numbers.

https://www.giffgaff.co.uk
https://www.talkmobile.co.uk
https://www.virginmobile.co.uk

Hypothetical_2

Thanks for that, Stuart.

We need a contract rather than PAYG.

Currently considering HTC Desire and Blackberry Curve for the two of us and trying to get the best deal out there. Also, one of our existing PAYG phone numbers will need to be retained. Don't mind contributing toward phone cost.

Stuart_W

Due to the low usage you refer to, you are right to consider contributing towards the handset rather than over-pay per month on an expensive contract to get a "free" phone.

Generally, a £30/month contract seems to be needed for a free HTC desire (although stock seems to be variable from different retailers) and £20/month for the Blackberry Curve.

If you have the cash, consider buying the HTC desire (£395) and Blackberry (£165) outright from https://www.unlocked-mobiles.com and then get two talkmobile contract SIM cards, each with 100 minutes and 100 texts and 100MB of mobile internet for £5 per month each.

Total cost over 24 months = £800 (£33.33 per month) for both handsets and SIM contracts.

There is an alternative £10/month sim with 300 minutes/300 texts. You can also see what other providers offer as any sim can be used. All operators can easy transfer numbers over so the PAYG number can be transferred to whoever you choose.
You're also free to jump ship to a different SIM card if someone else comes up with a better deal (taking your number with you). Some providers offer a better deal SIM card if you take a 12 month contract.
(eg Virgin do 400 minutes and unlimited texts for £12/month)


http://www.unlocked-mobiles.com/
http://www.talkmobile.co.uk/simple.html
http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/paymonthlySimOnly.do

Hypothetical_2

Thanks. More food for thought.