Contract phone V Business rate phone?

The_Wolfman_of_Warrington

Hello,just looking for some opinions/advice.

I have an 18 month talk/text 600(500 x net anytime calls+100 txts)contract with '3' which expires in a couple of weeks. I work as a driving instructor with the AA,and they have recently done a 'pay for calls used only' deal with O2 which means we instructors get business rate calls(between 2-4p per min depending on who/when calling). The most expensive calls on this price plan are when calling a phone on another network(15p per min.) There is no contract/line rental/top up credit to pay,we just get a monthly bill from O2 for any calls we have made. '3' are now trying to get me signed up for another 18 months,offering a new phone and choice of price plans. That would mean me having two phones of course,and while the inclusive calls and texts would obviously be useful,and a brand new phone very nice,I wonder wether I really need it seeing as the O2 calls are quite cheap. The O2 handsets the AA gave us are very basic(nokia 6310)but AA have told me that if I am not happy with it I could buy myself a better O2 handset and simply transfer the sim card into it.

So,do I sign up on a contract and end up with 2 phones or do I stick with just the business rate sim card and buy a better handset? I am not well up on mobile phones so I would appreciate some help. If I do decide to buy an O2 handset,where is the best place to buy them?

Thanks in advance for any help,

Wolfman.

System

Depends how much you use the phone.
Also depends if you want a new phone or not?!

Could you not get the Three phone unlocked for £15 or less, then move (port) the 3 number across to o2, and pop the O2 sim in your existing phone?

The_Wolfman_of_Warrington

I can't change the number on the O2 sim as I don't own it,AA/O2 own it. One of the reasons the AA/O2 deal was cheap was because every phone that O2 gave to the AA had a number starting with 0774,it was a sort of 'bulk deal' between AA/O2 so I don't think porting the number is an option!

I would probably use the phone 75% business and 25% personal. My family are on O2,I have looked at the pricing list for calls and could call them for 3p a min,any day or anytime. I only have one mate who I keep in touch with via mobile phone who is on another network,and I mostly keep in touch with him by text message,which would cost 6p a time on the O2 sim. I can't say which networks my pupils are on,probably several different ones but again calls to these people are short and infrequent,most of my pupils communicate via text message.

My '3' phone is the Sony K610i, 18 months old now and on it's way out.......I could use the basic nokia supplied by O2 but it doesn't even have a colour screen or a speakerphone! I have looked on O2 website and can buy a Sony K750i for £69.99,or argos are selling a Samsung E250 on O2 for £59.99. Are these worth buying? I would be looking to probably get 18 months/2 years usage out of it.

My last monthly bill for the O2 phone was £8,and there were quite a few calls/texts on the bill,a couple of minutes maximum per call. Anyone any ideas on the best way to proceed?