Mobile Contracts

dannyrst

General rant:

I'm 25. My first phones were pay as you go and cost around £100 to buy and had a maximum of £15 put on them every two weeks. They were Nokia phones that still work today!

Compare that with today, where I was looking to upgrade from an iPhone 5 to and iPhone 6. Over two years, it came to a total of £1,003.75. That's for the phone and the privilege to use that phone for two years (1000 minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB data). When that amount was shown on the calculator, I nearly choked on my drink.

The way we use mobile phones has greatly changed. I appreciate that. They now connect us to the internet far easier, and are much more friendly to navigate around. My main issue with todays mobile market is that they don't seem to cater for everyone.

My average usage per month is around 60 minutes, 50 texts and 1.5GB data. I don't use text messaging to contact people anymore, I use the internet. Same with calls, I use the internet. Mobile companies are constantly increasing the speed and range of their networks so I can use less minutes and texts and more data.

Only one problem, I can't get a tariff that allows me to use more than 1GB of data without opting for unlimited minutes and texts too. I don't WANT to pay for unlimited texts and calls. I won't use them. I know I won't. But there isn't a single tariff that caters for large data but small texts and calls.

To add to the confusion, when I spoke to EE about upgrading and my above issue, they said I could pay £34.99 a month for 2 years for 1000 minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of data, or pay the same amount a month for 2 years for 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of data. Neither had an upfront charge.

Is anyone else in the same boat? Given the evolution in the way we use our phones and the internet, have you decreased the amount you call and text? If so, are you paying for unlimited calls and texts that you aren't using? Or have you found an alternative?

Rant over.

MrJester

(Didn't read full post)

Nowadays what you pay for / what they make money from is the data.

Eg I've been on 1.5GB and had to continuously buy data bolt ons anywhere from £2-£15 a pop. I wouldn't even consider myself a heavy user, most of my day is at my office or at home when im on the wifi anyway. But 1.5GB is NOT alot, at all.

Phones now are as good as tablets, and tablets are not far off a laptop, which you can quite easily download a lot of data on. It's no different essentially, so a couple gigs will not get you very far (a few youtube vids and most of that is gone!).

When it comes to end of my contract in September, I'll be jumping across to the BT Mobile contract there's one for about £25 ish 12 month sim only and you get 20GB of data. That should be plenty for the foreseeable future.

I wont be getting contracts that come with a phone again, locked into it for two years? And who seriously sticks with the same phone for that long? Nah I like to have the latest iPhone, I'm in the cycle and I will continue it but I'll just buy the new one and sell the old one to recouperate most of the cost for the new one. So for a couple hundred quid I'll get a new one every year, which I'm ok with and is much better off than contracts w/ phones.

JJ_Egan

Alternative is the usual and that is to buy the product that suits and that equals for my usage never a contract .

19lottie82

I pay £15 a month with 3 PAYG (having bought an ip6 outright).
I get 300 mins, unlimited texts and unlimited 4G data.

SeduLOUs

I've been in the same boat, but after realising that getting a phone on contract i just a rolled up loan with a nasty hidden APR I've vowed never to sign up to anything more than 30 days at a time, and just buy the phone I want outright for the best price I can find.

I'm currently with GiffGaff which seem to do pretty reasonable tariffs with no contract. Mine is £12/m and includes 1GB data, but for you maybe the next one up might be tempting at £15/m for 3GB (or 5GB if you are OK with 3G only)?
https://giffgaff.com/goodybags/15pound-goodybag-4g

The one posted above me is probably more suited for you - not quite enough minutes for me though!

mobilejunkie

Or you could take out a sim only cashback contract with 1GB for £5.50 a month or 2GB for £7.50 a month (with unlimited texts and talk time as a bonus) after cashback provided you know what you're doing and do it properly.

Ian011

The fact that a particular deal has unlimited calls is an irrelevance.

The question you need to ask is 'is this deal the cheapest way to get 60 minutes, 50 texts and 1.5GB data per month?'

If it is, then go for it.