PAYG newbie confusion

purplehaze_3

Hi, I just bought a cheap 2G phone for emergency calls/texts.

Its a motorola C115 and has a t-mobile sim card installed.

here are my Qs :

1 : does t-mobile 2G network mean PAYG cards only work for 30 days from activation ?
2. should I switch to another network ? (vodaphone arent time-limited ?)
3. which ones arent time limited PAYG ?
4. do I need to unlock the phone and does that cost me ?
5. Im presuming they are all about 10-12p for texts ?
6. Am i basically limited to the 5 networks for choice ?

anyway my main gripe would be a network that only does time-limited cards. thats the main thing I want to avoid.

thanks for any help.

andy88_2

1-3. On most networks you need to make or receive a call in 180 days.
4. unlocking would be necessary if you wish to change; others will advise on this phone
5. some of those T-mobile SIMs have loads of free texts at the moment; is yours one? Orange and O2 also have offer for texts; perhaps they all have.
6. It won't work on 3. The other 4 and their mvno's eg Virgin, BT, easy, etc will work

the bit about 30 days you've seen probably refers to the call charges ie 30>20>10p within 30 day periods

purplehaze_3

thanks Andy. If there is no time-limit on the PAYG cards (apart from call-charge prices), I might as well stay with T-mobile (until I think otherwise).

I thought it was a sneaky ploy to basically make it monthly contract by stealth.

I dont think Im on the free texts offer but I will be sending so few I am ok with that.

Thanks for your help. It was the time-limit issue that bothered me most.