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| | Mobile Tips
A significant number of people spend more on their mobile phones and
calls than they do on their home lines. Most people presume that because it is a
mobile call, it ought to cost more. However there are a number ways of making
mobile telephony cheaper than land lines. Everybody's use of cell-phones varies,
so it is impossible to state definitively which would be the cheapest deal.
However there are a number of general trends.
 | Phones on account packages tend to be cheaper than pre-pay, unless you are
a very low user indeed. |
| The PCN (GSM 1800) networks (T-mobile and
Orange) tend to be cheaper than the GSM 900 networks (O2 and Vodafone) |
| The cheaper the phone is in the shop, the worse the overall deal is likely
to be. |
| Buy a handsfree kit or at least an earpiece if you are going to use the
phone in a car. |
| Annual account packages, if you can find them, like All-in-One or Boxed-and-Ready tend to be the
best value you can buy, though often the handsets are not the fanciest
available! Now very difficult to find. |
The Reseller Trick
A number of the landline companies listed on this site will let you use their phone
lines by calling an 0800 number. This means, that if you can call 0800 numbers
for free on your mobile, then you can bill calls externally to a cheaper
supplier.
This trick now works only for
Orange account
customers. Orange are also
quick to
block the access numbers, which constantly have to change.
All pay as you go (ie.
non account customers) cannot call 0800s for free, nor have Cellnet or Vodafone
ever allowed free 0800 access.
The Personal Number Trick
When the mobile phone companies sell you a phone, they are hoping to trap you
as a customer for life. Most people give out their mobile numbers and the hassle
of moving one to another company is too much for many. However there are
numerous companies like Flextel who will
give you a personal phone number, which you can divert to the mobile number of
your choice. You dial a central number, key in your personal number plus pin,
and then key in your choice of destination number. From then, on until you
divert elsewhere, your calls will go to the phone you choose. This is especially
good if you want to go on holiday (divert your personal number to an answer phone)
so you can go roaming without the worry of large incoming call bills. Only give
your real number to close family, for use in emergencies!
Some phone companies charge slightly more for ringing personal numbers, but not
all; however the number-user never pays anything for the service. Some personal
number companies like Yac now let you divert
your calls to certain foreign destinations.
You cannot unfortunately send an SMS
text message to a personal number, you have to use a real
number!
Mobile Companies
- T Mobile
(formerly One2one)
- Excellent value business tariffs.
Poor value prepay!
- Orange
- Best value home user
tariff, with lots of add on features.
- Cellnet
(O2)
- Can be the cheapest at weekends.
- Vodafone
- Good coverage, poorest for value.
- Dolphin
- A type of radio network, free calls between users. Chunky handsets!
- Virgin
- Supposedly a new network, but a subset of One2one/T-mobile.
Simple to understand!
- OneTel
- Piggy backing on to the vodafone network
- Fresh
- Another reseller of the One2one (T-mobile
network)
- Three
- The first 3rd generation network, now with some excellent tariffs.
-
BT pricing to call mobiles!
| Network |
Band |
Price |
BT Cellnet
|
Weekend
Cheap
Standard |
2.35
13.16
16.81 |
Vodafone
|
Weekend
Cheap
Standard |
3.98
7.29
18.92 |
Orange
|
Weekend
Cheap
Standard |
5,53
14.1
17.63 |
One2One, Virgin
|
Weekend
Cheap
Standard |
3.65
15.16
19.33 |
Dolphin
|
Weekend
Cheap
Standard |
8.80
18.73
26.05 |
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