Mobile network providers in the UK

X3x3non

I call upon the indigenous tribes that live in the low lands of Mt. H/A to aid me with this quest.

So I recently moved to England (from Germany) and the only previous phone contract I had was a pay as you go type deal. I hardly ever use my cell so I am pretty much out of the loop, but i find myself needing one now, because I do not have access to a land-line. It is mostly so that people can call me for official purposes (bank/school etc). I don't think i will make to many calls myself and the appeals of texting have long eluded me.

I just require something really basic, I would like to be in control of my fees so I would like to get another pay as you go type thing without set monthly fees. I don't need a bunch of free minutes since i wouldn't use them anyways. What would be the most economical choice?

Any suggestions? Thank you!

Szechuanosaurus

I'd say all the pay as you go options are pretty much alike in terms of economy. The only thing I can recommend is if all other things are equal, go with Orange. They have, without a doubt, the best coverage of any network in the UK. Any money you save with a cheaper or third-party provider is going to be lost when you miss important calls because you don't have a reception in half of your flat.

Probably go to carphonewarehouse (either one of their shops or their website) and do a quick cost comparison of different networks' pay as you go options. If you aren't going to make many if any calls or send text messages, I don't know if the costs are going to make any difference because the cost of PayG deals in the UK is all in the calls you make or texts you send, not in any you receive.

malerik

I've just got a 3 mobile Skypephone and am very impressed with it. Free skype calls and plenty of minutes of normal mobile calls for £15 a month, plus the phone itself is very nice.

I've been with 3 mobile for 3 out of the last 4 years and have only found two places in the UK with no signal: partway between Mach and Dogellau in Wales (damn mountains) and in the loo at work (what do they line that thing with, lead?). My girlfriend lives in Barmouth, which is the very west coast of wales and I could still use the skype function in certain rooms (needs 2.5g signal) and still had full 2g mobile signal in other rooms.

I think 3 phones default to the 02 network when they don't get signal. they did 3 years ago at least, i haven't had any cause to since then really as anywhere with no signal has no signal with 02 as well.

Szechuanosaurus

I just recently switched to O2 (iPhone lol) and the coverage is good but not as good as Orange was.

corcorigan

Vodaphone is supposed to have the best coverage.

Almost all the pay-as-you-go deals are similar, some give you a big pile of free texts, go with these because otherwise at 10p a text you're basically agreeing to being totally screwed over.

TheFish

If you're not bothered about texting, and it's mostly for incoming calls then there's not much to choose between them really.

You can buy a very basic phone with a pay-as-you-go plan for £20.