Now I have a new phone I need a new contract

[andrewducker]

I want a Sim only contract with a gig of download included. I don't need more than 300 minutes or 150 texts.

Any suggestions?

Comments

[flick]

Not contract, but GiffGaff? £10 a month gets you 250 minutes and unlimited everything else.

[andrewducker]

They seem to be having lots of issues at the moment. Not sure I fancy feeling with that.

[flick]

That's a bit worrying: I've just switched to them! I didn't realise they'd had problems.

Mike's been using them for a little while now, though, and I don't think he's had any difficulties.

[andrewducker]

There's a link over on the livejournal thread. And the forums have some unhappy people. Hard to tell how widespread it is though.

[buddleia]

I've been pretty satisfied with an O2 simplicity sim-only for my iphone. I think you'd be looking at about £20 a month, PAYG or 12 months.

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

Giff gaff.

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

Runs on O2 BTW. I considered them but have full intentions of upgrading later this year when Apple suck me in further.

[andrewducker]

Tempting, because their prices are good, but stuff like this makes me nervous:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/19/giffgaff_outage/

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

When I last checked Three would do that for £12 a month. O2 wanted £22/month for the same thing, Vodafone and Orange both wanted about £30/month. The main difference was the data - everyone except Three charge a fortune for data whereas Three pretty much throw it in for free.

I was concerned 1Gb wouldn't be enough data, but in the past three months I've never got above 700Mb in a month. Although my phone is connected to WiFi at both work and home so only really uses it when I'm out.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

The one drawback with Three is that they don't permit roaming onto non-3G networks (i.e. GSM) where there's no 3G coverage. This will really bite you if you go overseas to a destination with patchy 3G coverage, or find a 3G black spot at home in the UK -- the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary is one (or was as of last April).

This is a deal-killer for me (I travel overseas a lot).

[andrewducker]

It looks like they've been turning off their 2G coverage bit by bit:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/08/3uk_orange_roaming/

Worth knowing, as I sit in a large concrete building for large chunks of the day. Julie's with 3. I shall have to borrow her phone and wander around the office, see what signal I get.

[guybles.livejournal.com]

Tesco Mobile (also O2 in disguise). You can have a 12 month contract for £10pm (250 mins/5000 texts/1GB) or an identical package with rolling monthly contract for £17.50pm.

Plus ClubCard points for the extra stalker-ish goodness.

I've had no problems whatsoever with them - pretty much everything in the BAU category is online.

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

I've never even heard of SIM-only contracts. Maybe that just Isn't a Thing over here?

[andrewducker]

Possibly. They tend to have a small saving over pay as you go SIMs over here, but it's not massive. And I believe that in the USA pretty much everyone buys their phone through a contract.

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

USA definitely do SIM only contracts. I was offered several options in the T-Mobile shops in NYC last year when I was trying to pick up a PAYG SIM. Also Radio Shack had a plethora of different SIM only deals for various providers.

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

Some carriers here don't even offer phones that use SIM cards -- Verizon Wireless, I believe, for example.

It's pretty easy to get prepaid or pay-as-you-go phones, even smartphones, but I think the only people who get those are the ones who don't have sufficient credit or downpayment to get a contract.