More and more people are deciding that they’re happy with their existing phone and opting to switch to a cheaper SIM-only calling plan. These SIM-only tariffs, ideal for those who have completed a contract or are currently on Pay As You Go, offer shed loads of minutes and unlimited texts starting at just £5/month. SIM-only tariffs are different from traditional Pay Monthly contracts in that they do not provide a new phone. For this reason, they tend to be about £180/year cheaper than traditional contracts.

In this guide, we’ve compared all of the SIM-only tariffs from the big networks in the UK (3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Tesco Mobile and Vodafone). For each price point, we’ve searched through all the tariffs to find the one offering the most minutes and texts. Any of the products listed below should work in your existing phone, providing that it’s unlocked.

Do you have an iPhone, Android, Blackberry or Palm phone?

If you have a smartphone (iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Palm, etc.) then you’ll need an inclusive internet allowance. You should instead refer to our smartphone SIM-only tariff guide.

Is your phone locked?

Firstly, you should check whether your phone is locked. Depending on who you bought your phone from, there is a good chance that it could be locked to your current network. If you’re switching to another network, you’ll need to unlock your phone first. We’ve got a guide on how to tell whether your phone is locked. Typically unlocking your phone involves calling up your current network. There may also be a small fee involved.

Can I take my number with me if I switch network?

Yes. You’ll need to obtain a PAC code for this purpose. Our detailed guide to PAC codes outlines your rights to a PAC code, how to obtain one and how to use it.

£5/month – Giffgaff’s “Unlimited Texts” Goodybag

For a flat rate of a fiver a month, O2 subsidiary Giffgaff offers an “unlimited texts” goodybag (see our review). Unfortunately there is no call time allowance included with this tariff so you’ll have to pay 8p/minute for calls. Order a free SIM card from Giffgaff to get started.

If you need some call time, Tesco offer 100 minutes as well as unlimited texts for an extra quid a month. See the next deal for more information…

Get this deal from Giffgaff (£5/month) »

£6/month – Tesco Mobile

At £6/month, Tesco have the cheapest mobile contract in the UK which offers both minutes and texts (see our review). You’ll get 100 minutes and unlimited texts. Tesco Mobile uses the O2 network. As an extra bonus, you’ll get Clubcard reward points too.

Get this deal from Tesco Mobile (£6/month) »

£10/month – Vodafone

Most of the networks offer around 100 minutes at the £10/month price range. Hence the clear winner in terms of the number of minutes is Vodafone’s tariff which offering 300 minutes and unlimited texts for £10/month. The tariff comes on a 12-month contract.

Get this deal from Vodafone (£10/month) »

If you want to opt for a shorter 1-month rolling contract, Tesco Mobile offer the best deal with 250 minutes and unlimited texts for £10/month.

Get this deal from Tesco Mobile (£10/month) »

£15/month – O2 or Vodafone

At £15/month, competition really hots up. Both O2 and Vodafone offer 600 minutes and unlimited texts. On top of that, O2 offers the choice of unlimited calls to either O2 customers or to landlines. Whereas the Vodafone deal comes with unlimited calls to other Vodafone customers. The best package really depends on whether you have more friends on O2 or on Vodafone.

Both tariffs come with a 12-month contract.

Get this deal from O2  (£15/month) » (with either unlimited O2 or unlimited landline calls)

Get this deal from Vodafone (£15/month) » (with unlimited Vodafone calls)

If you want to opt for a shorter 1-month rolling contract, Tesco Mobile offer the best deal with 500 minutes and unlimited texts for £15/month.

Get this deal from Tesco Mobile (£15/month) »

£20/month – O2

The best value tariff at the £20/month price point is offered by O2. They’re offering 900 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited calls to either other O2 customers or landlines for £20 month. It’s a 12-month contract.

Get this deal from O2 (£20/month) »

If you want to opt for a shorter 1-month rolling contract, Tesco Mobile offer the best deal with 750 minutes and unlimited texts for £20/month.

Get this deal from Tesco Mobile (£20/month) »

£25/month or above – Three’s “The One Plan”

Unlike the rest of our top picks, Three’s “The One Plan” (reviewed here) is suitable for use with smartphones too. It’s essentially an “unlimited calls, texts and internet” package (albeit with some limits). For £25/month, you’ll get 2000 cross-network minutes, 5000 3-to-3 minutes, 5000 texts, 1GB internet and free voicemail. You’re going to struggle to use this all up… it equates to making 67 minutes of calls and sending 167 texts every single day.

Get this deal from Three (£25/month) »

If you need more than 900 minutes per month, this is the tariff to go for. There are no other “best deals” above this price point… “The One Plan” offers a larger allowance of minutes than any of the pricier SIM-only tariffs offered on other networks.

If you want to opt for a shorter 1-month rolling contract, Tesco Mobile offer a similar deal for £30/month. You’ll get unlimited calls, texts and internet.

Get this deal from Tesco Mobile (£30/month) »

Related posts:

1. The UK’s SIM only tariffs: Prices and Tariffs compared
2. The UK’s Best Value Smartphone SIM-only Tariffs with Internet Access
3. Compare Apple iPhone prices and tariffs: Fully updated for iPhone 4

We were left scratching our heads this morning as T-Mobile released details of the iPhone tariffs. Despite being the final network to release details of their iPhone tariffs, they’ve announced some of the priciest tariffs out there. Our key findings are:

• T-Mobile’s iPhone tariffs are similar to those offered by O2, Orange and Vodafone in terms of the monthly cost and the number of minutes offered (and without the unlimited texts). However, T-Mobile typically charges an extra £40 or £50 for the iPhone upfront.
• T-Mobile only offers 500MB internet per month (slightly more on tariffs of £45/month or more). This is despite the fact they offer a standard fair usage of 1GB on most of their other smartphones and 3GB for their Android phones. Three, Vodafone and Tesco Mobile all provide 1GB/month as standard on their iPhone tariffs.
• T-Mobile’s network is not a unique selling point. They share their 3G network with Three, who also provide the iPhone. If T-Mobile’s 3G network is your kind of thing, grab a tariff from Three instead.

We’ve added their 6 tariffs to our iPhone tariff listing and iPhone price comparison tool.

With these iPhone tariffs, we doubt that T-Mobile are going to gain many customers from other networks. Instead, it looks like these tariffs are aimed at retaining existing T-Mobile customers who want to upgrade to the iPhone 4 but don’t take the time to shop around elsewhere. Orange and T-Mobile are now both owned by the same parent company “Everything Everywhere” and will eventually share networks, I suspect the strategic decision has been made for Orange to attract the new customers.

T-Mobile’s iPhone Tariffs

T-Mobile have 6 iPhone tariffs. On the whole, we’ve found that you can find a better deal almost anywhere else. Below we’ve listed  each T-Mobile tariff and the cheapest alternative according to the iPhone price comparison tool. The cheapest alternative tariff usually provides a larger airtime allowance as well as costing less over the contract period.

The following price comparisons are for the 16GB iPhone 4.

Please note that Three’s iPhone 4 tariffs will be available to order from the end of July only.

	Cheapest Alternative	Cost Saving of Alternative
100 minutes, 100 texts, 500MB View tariff info » Upfront cost: £259 Monthly cost: £25/month Total cost of ownership: £859	Three – 500 minutes, 5000 texts, 1GB View tariff info » Upfront cost: £99 Monthly cost: £30/month Total cost of ownership: £819 Source: iPhone Price Comparison (July 10)	£40
300 minutes, 300 texts, 500MB View tariff info » Upfront cost: £219 Monthly cost: £30/month Total cost of ownership: £939	Three – 500 minutes, 5000 texts, 1GB View tariff info » Upfront cost: £99 Monthly cost: £30/month Total cost of ownership: £819 Source: iPhone Price Comparison (July 10)	£120
600 minutes, 500 texts, 500MB View tariff info » Upfront cost: £189 Monthly cost: £35/month Total cost of ownership: £1,029	Three – 900 minutes, 5000 texts, 1GB View tariff info » Upfront cost: £99 Monthly cost: £35/month Total cost of ownership: £939 Source: iPhone Price Comparison (July 10)	£90
900 minutes, 500 texts, 500MB View tariff info » Upfront cost: £129 Monthly cost: £40/month Total cost of ownership: £1,089	Three – 900 minutes, 5000 texts, 1GB View tariff info » Upfront cost: £99 Monthly cost: £35/month Total cost of ownership: £939 Source: iPhone Price Comparison (July 10)	£150
1200 minutes, 500 texts, 750MB View tariff info » Upfront cost: £59 Monthly cost: £45/month Total cost of ownership: £1,139	Three – 2000 minutes, 5000 texts, 1GB View tariff info » Upfront cost: £169 Monthly cost: £35/month Total cost of ownership: £1,009 Source: iPhone Price Comparison (July 10)	£130
3000 minutes, 500 texts, 1GB View tariff info » Upfront cost: Free Monthly cost: £60/month Total cost of ownership: £1,440	Tesco – Unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, 1GB View tariff info » Upfront cost: £19 Monthly cost: £45/month Total cost of ownership: £1,099 Source: iPhone Price Comparison (July 10)	£341

It’s worth noting that the T-Mobile contracts come with a free flexible booster (such as unlimited texts). However, even after accounting for this, the T-Mobile deals still don’t look hugely competitive against Three’s tariffs which offer 5000 as standard.

Do T-Mobile or Three have a better 3G network?

T-Mobile and Three share their 3G networks so there should be no difference at all. Tesco Mobile use O2′s network.

Are T-Mobile offering cheaper retention deals for existing customers?

If you’re an existing T-Mobile customer, it’s always worth calling up and asking them if they can match the deal provided by the cheapest alternative here. However, some estimates say that T-Mobile have a profit margin of £56 on each iPhone they sell so don’t hold your breath. Do drop us a comment below and let us know whether you have any luck though.

I’m an existing T-Mobile customer. Can I keep my number if I switch network?

Yes. You need to ask T-Mobile for a PAC code and you need to provide this to your new network. Your new network will handle the process of porting your phone number.

Related posts:

1. Exclusive: O2 loophole – Get the iPhone on a cheaper, 12-month contract
2. Compare Apple iPhone prices and tariffs: Fully updated for iPhone 4
3. T-Mobile release HTC Wildfire Android Smartphone for £10/mo with unlimited texts, internet

If you already own your own smartphone (for example you bought one on Pay As You Go or you’ve completed the course of your Pay Monthly contract) then you can save money by switching over to a cheaper SIM-only tariff. A SIM-only contract is different from a traditional Pay Monthly contract in that you are not provided with a phone. This means they tend to be a lot cheaper than traditional contracts. Switching to a SIM-only contract can typically offer a cost saving of about £180 per year.

All of the major networks (3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone) now offer SIM-only contracts. We’ve searched through the dozens of SIM-only tariffs to find the best value tariffs which are suitable for use within a smartphone. All of the listed tariffs have an inclusive internet/data allowance and should work in any unlocked smartphone including Blackberry, iPhone and Android smartphones.

If you don’t have a smartphone or you don’t need an inclusive internet allowance, check out our guide to the best value SIM-only tariffs for non-smartphones.

First things first… Is your phone locked?

Firstly, is your phone locked? Depending on who you bought your smartphone from, there is a good chance that it could be locked to your current network. That’s no problem if your network offers the best value SIM-only smartphone deal out there but if you want to switch network, you’ll need to unlock it first. See our guide on how to tell whether your phone is locked. Typically unlocking your phone involves calling up your current network. There may also be a small fee involved.

What should I look out for?

You should choose a network that has good coverage where you live. We’ve got a guide on how to find out which network offers the best reception where you live. You’ll want to choose a network which offers you 3G coverage (this gives you high speed internet). Choose a network without reception where you live and your phone could be as useful as a brick!

Then you’ll want to find the tariff that gives you what you want for the lowest price. We’ve listed the best value tariffs at various price points below.

Finally, if you are switching network you may find our guide on PAC codes useful.

£5/month – Three’s “SIM Only Internet” Deal

If you only very rarely use your phone for calls and texts but you need a internet package, Three’s “SIM Only Internet” tariff (see our review) offers 1GB of internet, 5000 Skype-to-Skype minutes and free voicemail. It’s a fiver a month and a 1-month rolling contract.

Calls cost 20p/minute and texts cost 10p each. If you’re likely to make more than 25 minutes of calls or send more than 50 texts each month (or some combination of the two), you’ll find the next deal better value…

Get this deal from Three (£5/month) »

£10/month – T-Mobile

Besides the “SIM Only Internet” deal which only provides internet, T-Mobile have the cheapest SIM-only tariff out there with an internet allowance worthy of use with a smartphone. For £10/month, you’ll get 100 minutes, 100 texts and 1GB internet (choose the “Unlimited Internet” flexible booster). Like Three’s tariff, it’s also a 1-month rolling contract. It’s great if you’re coming from Pay As You Go or you like to call and text to stay in touch but mainly rely on a landline or another mobile.

For £5/month extra, you can add unlimited texts to your package.

Get this deal from T-Mobile (£10/month) »

£15 per month – T-Mobile for minutes; O2 for texts

At the £15/month price point it’s difficult to see an overall winner. The best package really depends on whether you want more minutes (T-Mobile) or more texts (O2).

T-Mobile offer 600 minutes, 500 texts and 1GB internet (choose the “Unlimited Internet” flexible booster) for £15/month. The one disadvantage this has over the £10/month deal is that it’s a 12-month contract instead of a 30-day rolling contract.

Get this deal from T-Mobile (£15/month) »

If 500 texts per month isn’t enough for you, O2 have a “Simplicity” deal (reviewed here) which offers 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB internet for £15/month too. You’ll get half the minutes and half the internet allowance of the T-Mobile deal but you’ll never run out of texts. Again, it’s also a 12 month contract.

For iPhone customers, the “Simplicity for iPhone” variant of this tariff (reviewed here) offers the extra bonus of visual voicemail and BT Openzone wi-fi hotspot access.

Get this deal from O2 (£15/month) »

Get this deal from O2 (£15/month, iPhone Variant) »

£20 per month – Vodafone

The best value tariff at the £20/month price point comes from Vodafone. They are offering a tariff with 900 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB internet for £20/month. It’s a 12 month contract.

Get this deal from Vodafone (£20/month) »

£25 per month – Three’s “The One Plan”

Three’s “The One Plan” (reviewed here) is essentially an “unlimited calls, texts and internet” package (albeit with some limits). For £25/month, you’ll get 2000 cross-network minutes, 5000 3-to-3 minutes, 5000 texts, 1GB internet and free voicemail. You’re going to struggle to use this all up… it equates to making 67 minutes of calls and sending 167 texts every single day.

Get this deal from Three (£25/month) »

This is the tariff to go for if you use more than 900 minutes every month. There are no “best deals” above the £25/month price point as “The One Plan” provides a higher allowance and or is cheaper than all of them.

Related posts:

1. The UK’s Best Value SIM-Only Tariffs (1 month and 12 month contracts)
2. T-Mobile release HTC Wildfire Android Smartphone for £10/mo with unlimited texts, internet
3. The UK’s SIM only tariffs: Prices and Tariffs compared

The iPhone 4 has been released and it’s available on all 5 of the major networks (3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone) as well as Tesco Mobile. This page lists all of the iPhone tariffs as they are announced – and you can use our comparison tool to work out which contract would be the cheapest for you.

Unlike most other comparison webpages, we list the fair usage policies of each tariff and the comparable cost of buying the iPhone outright and using a SIM-only iPhone tariff which is sometimes cheaper. We also take into consideration excess call and text charges.

• Comparison Tool
• 24 month contracts
• 18 month contracts
• 12 month contracts
• 1 month contracts

Comparison Tool

Visit the Ken’s Tech Tips iPhone Comparison Tool.

24 month contracts

£25/month

£30/month

£35/month

£40/month

£45/month

£50/month

£60/month

£75/month

18 month contracts

£30/month

£35/month

£40/month

£45/month

£50/month

£65/month

£75/month

12 month contracts

£15/month

£20/month

£25/month

£30/month

£35/month

£45/month

1 month contracts

£20/month

£25/month

£30/month

£35/month

£50/month

More information & Buy

For more information on the tariffs and to buy an iPhone, visit the Orange, O2, Tesco Mobile or Vodafone website.

Article Updates

• 18th August: Updated pricing plans for Orange, T-Mobile
• 8th July: Added pricing plans for T-Mobile
• 24th June: Added pricing plans for Three
• 23rd June: Added pricing plans for O2, Orange, Vodafone and Tesco Mobile

Related posts:

1. Compare HTC Desire prices: 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone VS Virgin
2. The iPhone Tariff Price Comparison Tool – with 23 iPhone tariffs
3. The UK’s SIM only tariffs: Prices and Tariffs compared

The HTC Desire has become the high-end smartphone hit of 2010 for consumers spending about £30/month or more. With the Wildfire, HTC are trying to take on the mid-range smartphone market and some more cost-concious consumers. The Wildfire is designed to be a slightly scaled-down version of the Desire and is available for around half the price of the Desire. To cut costs, the screen is slightly smaller and the processor is less powerful. However all the main things we love about the Desire are still there – that includes the free GPS navigation, the range of Android applications, Android 2.1, 5 megapixel camera, etc.

The tariff which really stands out for us is T-Mobile’s £10/month deal. The tariff offers 100 minutes, unlimited texts (with the booster) and unlimited internet for £10/month plus £110 upfront for the phone.

Why is this deal worth considering?

• It comes with unlimited internet (with 3GB fair usage). It is incredibly difficult to find a £10/month SIM only deal with unlimited internet – let alone one that comes with a phone. Also, the 3GB fair usage limit is incredibly good compared to the fair usage limits offered by the other networks – the fair usage cap is 6x higher than the fair usage limit on most of the networks (Three – 500MB, O2 – 500MB, Orange – 750MB, Vodafone – 500MB). Furthermore, T-Mobile have written into the contract that users will not be charged for exceeding the limit. Given how all of the networks have been cutting their fair usage limits recently, we’re not sure how much longer T-Mobile will offer tariffs with a 3GB fair usage limit so it might be worth grabbing this whilst it’s still around.
• The free GPS navigation is awesome. The Wildfire has everything that is needed for turn-by-turn GPS navigation: Android 2.1, support for GPS and assisted GPS. It’s one of the key benefits of choosing an Android smartphone over the iPhone – on the iPhone a similar GPS navigation applications might cost around £50 and charge extra for maps.
• Android App Store. There are around 75,000 applications available in the Android App Store. Combined with the data connection on this tariff this means endless possibilities – just a few of which we’ve highlighted in our review of Android apps.
• HTC Sense. The HTC Sense interface is absolutely fantastic and makes this phone an absolute joy to use. Sense features all kinds of cool things such as integration with Facebook.

What are the key specs of the HTC Wildfire?

The HTC Wildfire is a smartphone running on Google’s Android Operating System. Key specifications include:

• 3.2-inch TFT touchscreen
• Google’s Android 2.1 mobile operating system – the most recent version and access to Android App Store
• 528MHz Qualcomm processor
• HTC Sense interface which displays information from Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, face detection, flash and geotagging
• GPS antenna with Google Maps and free GPS navigation
• Supports external microSD cards up to 32GB (4GB micro SD card included)

The full list of specifications is available on HTC’s website.

What are the main differences to the Desire?

The main features of the Desire and Wildfire are almost identical. The main differences are:

• The Desire has a larger and higher-resolution 3.7-inch AMOLED screen.
• The Desire has a 1GHZ processor whereas the Wildfire has a 528MHZ processor
• The Desire has 576MB RAM compared to the 384MB RAM of the Wildfire

Essentially this means that the Desire performs much better when multi-tasking (running multiple applications at once) and webpages are clearer (you may have to zoom in on webpages with the Wildfire which would otherwise be readable on the Desire without doing so).

Price-wise, you’d have to fork out at least £630 for a Desire over 24 months; whereas you could get a Wildfire on a 24-month contract for a total cost of £370.

What tariffs are available?

The headline tariff is the £10/month tariff with 100 minutes, unlimited texts (flexible booster) and 3GB internet. This tariff has a £110 upfront cost for the phone. The total cost of ownership is £350 over 24 months.

If 100 minutes isn’t enough, there is a £15/month tariff with 300 minutes (£75 upfront for the phone) and a £20/month tariff with 600 minutes (free phone). The total cost of ownership for these tariffs are £435 and £480 respectively.

What if I don’t want to sign up for 24 months?

The 100 minutes, unlimited texts and 3GB internet is also available on a 18-month contract. The 18-month contract costs £15/month with just £40 upfront for the phone. The total cost of ownership of this plan is £310. Personally I would recommend opting for the 24-month version of the plan – for an extra £40, you’ll get another 6 months of airtime.

At Ken’s Tech Tips, we usually recommend readers to avoid locking themselves into a long contract if at all possible. In this case, we would make an exception – we can’t foresee a significantly cheaper tariff being released any time soon.

How do I get a HTC Wildfire from T-Mobile?

You can order the HTC Wildfire through the T-Mobile website. We’d recommend getting it quickly in case T-Mobile withdraw this offer quickly like they did with the Desire.

Can I keep my phone number from my existing network?

Yes; you will have to request a PAC code from your existing network and provide this code to T-Mobile customer services once you have received your phone.

How else can I obtain a HTC Wildfire?

Amazon are selling the HTC Wildfire SIM-free and unlocked for £230. Remember that you’ll need a decent smartphone data tariff to get the most out of your phone.

Related posts:

1. HTC Desire Android Smartphone: £15/month on T-Mobile with unlimited texts, internet
2. T-Mobile release Pay As You Go Android ‘Pulse’ phone
3. T-Mobile launching Pulse Mini – a £100 Android PAYG smartphone

photo: © Ahmed Amir

What does unlimited mean? According to the dictionary definition: “having no restrictions or control” or “having or seeming to have no boundaries”. We’ve previously highlighted the fact that this isn’t mobile internet is never unlimited in that sense – all networks have fair usage policies. Today we want to place the spotlight on “unlimited internet” packages. Just how limited are they and what are the penalties for exceeding the limit? We will look at several important issues:

• What is the fair usage limit? Across networks and tariffs, they range from 200MB to 3GB.
• What happens once I reach the limit? Some networks will automatically start charging you per megabyte, other networks will cut you off. Some networks just “reserve the right” to restrict your usage.
• Can I use instant messaging services such as MSN? Some networks restrict instant messaging services so they can make money from texts.
• Can I use voice over IP? Very few networks will allow you to use voice over IP services on their mobile network. They take away from the money they make from voice calls.
• Can I tether my phone to a computer? Our research found that none of the major networks allow you to tether your phone to a computer.

Key Conclusions

There are some interesting conclusions we drew from this study.

Firstly, there is a huge variation in the fair usage limit: from 200MB to 3GB. The networks also differ on what happens when you reach that limit. Three will cut off your internet connection whereas other networks such as O2 and Virgin are happy for you to continue: but they’ll charge you up to £3/MB for the privilege. Other networks such as Orange and T-Mobile say they won’t charge you for exceeding the limit – but they’ll let you know when you’ve reached it and they may restrict your usage.

We also looked at the restrictions which networks made on what you could actually do with your data connection. Voice over IP is prohibited by every network except from Three and Vodafone (if you have an unlimited plan). And none of the networks will let you tether – presumably that would hurt their mobile broadband business.

The comparison between the networks

Firstly, a word of warning. The networks have offered a range of data tariffs in the past – for example if you signed up for a data tariff several years ago you might have a limit of 1MB/month (yes, they did exist at one point…). This is only a guide to highlight the differences and to help you choose a network. Please double check the terms and conditions for your tariff before using data services (we have provided the relevant links to terms and conditions pages).

If you want information on other fair usage limits (minutes, texts, etc.) see our earlier article on fair usage allowances.

Three

• What is the fair usage limit? 500MB on tariffs from May 2010; 1GB per month on some older tariffs.
• What happens once I reach the limit? Three will notify you when you reach 400MB, and again once you reach 500MB. After 500MB, you’ll be charged 10p/MB.
• Can I use instant messaging services such as MSN? Yes! In fact, 3 actively advertises this as a feature of their tariff. You can use Windows Live Messenger with a limit of 10,000 messages per month.
• Can I use voice over IP? Yes! 3 actively promote the fact you can use Skype on their network. This comes with a fair usage of 5,000 minutes per month.
• Can I tether my phone to a computer? No; this is expressedly prohibited by their terms and conditions.

Source: 3 Terms and Conditions

Tariff information: 3 Store

O2

• What is the fair usage limit? From 500MB for Pay Monthly tariffs from June 2010; 200MB for web bolt-on, 500MB for Text and Web
• What happens once I reach the limit? You’ll be charged standard O2 data costs. £1/day for contracts, £3/MB for Pay As You Go.
• Can I use instant messaging services such as MSN? Not prohibited in the Terms and Conditions – drop us a comment below if you’ve had experiences.
• Can I use voice over IP? No; prohibited by Terms and Conditions
• Can I tether my phone to a computer? No; prohibited by Terms and Conditions

Source: O2 Terms and Conditions

Tariff information: O2 Shop

Orange

• What is the fair usage limit? 750MB for “unlimited internet” the Panther tariffs (note some Panther tariffs have a 500MB limit and are not advertised as “unlimited”)
• What happens once I reach the limit? Orange will notify you that you’ve exceeded your limit. They say that they may apply network protection control. (note that if you are on the 500MB limit tariff, you will be charged for extra usage automatically)
• Can I use instant messaging services such as MSN? No; prohibited by terms and conditions.
  
• Can I use voice over IP? No; prohibited by terms and conditions.
• Can I tether my phone to a computer? No; prohibited by terms and conditions.

Source: Orange Pay Monthly Terms, Orange PAYG Terms, Orange Pay Monthly (Panther) Terms

Tariff information: Orange Shop

T-Mobile

• What is the fair usage limit? 1GB with their unlimited internet booster, or 3GB if you’ve got an Android phone.
• What happens once I reach the limit? T-Mobile explicitly state that you will not be charged but they may impose restrictions.
• Can I use instant messaging services such as MSN? No; prohibited by terms and conditions (bizarre as the T-Mobile HTC Desire ships with Google Talk installed)
• Can I use voice over IP? No; prohibited by terms and conditions.
• Can I tether my phone to a computer? No; prohibited by terms and conditions.

Source: T-Mobile Fair Use Policy

Tariff information: T-Mobile website

Vodafone

• What is the fair usage limit? 500MB on their pay monthly contracts.
• What happens once I reach the limit? Vodafone will notify you when you reach your limit. From June, Vodafone customers will be charged £5 per 500MB once they exceed their limit.
• Can I use instant messaging services such as MSN? Not prohibited by terms and conditions.
• Can I use voice over IP? Yes; according to the Vodafone T&C providing you have an unlimited plan.
• Can I tether my phone to a computer? No.

Source: Vodafone webpage, Vodafone “Your Plan” Terms and Conditions

Tariff information: Vodafone Store

Virgin Mobile

• What is the fair usage limit? 1GB per month on the Pay Monthly contracts.
• What happens once I reach the limit? You’ll be charged £2 per MB.
• Can I use instant messaging services such as MSN? Not prohibited by fair usage policy.
• Can I use voice over IP? No; prohibited by fair usage policy.
• Can I tether my phone to a computer? No; prohibited by fair usage policy.

Source: Virgin Mobile Fair Usage Policy

Tariff information: Virgin Mobile

Related posts:

1. What does “unlimited” really mean? Mobile fair usage allowances
2. O2 scrapping unlimited internet; imposing 500MB/month fair usage cap
3. T-Mobile release HTC Wildfire Android Smartphone for £10/mo with unlimited texts, internet

One of the benefits of being a blogger about mobile technology is that you find out about all the new product releases and mobile tariffs as soon as they come out (it is my job after all!). When the much-hyped HTC Desire smartphone (essentially the Google Nexus with a shiny HTC user interface) was made available on a £10/month  T-Mobile contract with unlimited texts and internet, I jumped ship immediately.

I wrote in my previous commentary that the smartphone had finally “made it to the mass-market” and this was a real game changer. Previously I was a Pay As You Go customer on O2 Text and Web (I use a lot more texts/data than minutes) but here finally was a contract which made was great value, made a lot of economic sense and provided a cutting-edge smartphone.

Since I made that post, several things have happened:

• T-Mobile’s £10/month tariff is now £15/month. Unfortunately the game changing £10/month tariff has disappeared from T-Mobile. It’s now £15/month for 100 minutes, unlimited texts (with the free Booster) and 3GB internet. Although we’re disappointed the price has gone up, the £15/month price is still comparable or cheaper than many SIM only tariffs. We still think it’s absolutely fantastic value and I would still highly recommend it as soon as possible.
• Four more networks have launched the HTC Desire. Three, Orange, Vodafone and Virgin have now launched the HTC Desire too. T-Mobile is still by far the cheapest. Given the low price point of the T-Mobile HTC Desire tariffs compared to the other networks, we wonder if they’ll raise their prices to bring it in line with the other networks.
• There has been a severe stock shortage of HTC Desire across all of the networks. I waited 11 days for my T-Mobile HTC Desire to arrive (although I hear things are a bit better now). Vodafone experienced shortages, Orange experienced delays, several readers ordering the Desire on 3 have experienced delays and O2 haven’t even got round to announcing tariffs for it yet. Some networks have stopped upgrades for existing customers and are only offering the HTC Desire for new customers for the time being.

So in the last few days I’ve been migrating my contacts/phone numbers/etc over to my HTC Desire and moving my number from O2 to T-Mobile.

Taking my number; obtaining my PAC Code

photo: The Pug Father

I requested a PAC code from O2 (my previous network). It took a quick call to customer services and O2′s Retention department where they went through the standard routine of trying to keep me on their network by offering me special deals, promoting their own smartphone tariffs (they even tried to sell me the Text & Web tariff that I was already on) and alternative smartphones (Windows phones… urgh!).

I’ve never had a bad word to say about O2 Customer Services. From my experience, they’ve always been very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Once again they were fantastic: they were never forceful in trying to prevent me from leaving the network and they provided me with my 8 digit PAC code straight away over the phone.

T-Mobile wouldn’t accept my PAC code until after I had placed my order and received my phone in the post. I was given a temporary T-Mobile number and asked to call T-Mobile customer services once I had received my phone and then to provide my PAC code. The important thing to be aware about is that it takes 2 working days to move your number between networks. I gave T-Mobile my PAC code on a Thursday and my number moved to T-Mobile on Monday morning.

Again, from my three calls to T-Mobile customer services, the T-Mobile staff were very helpful and welcoming.

Once you’ve used your PAC code, your old SIM card will be disabled. My Viewty phone displays the message “Please insert USIM”. It’s a good idea to either grab a free SIM card so you can keep using your old phone or to recycle your phone.

Transferring my phone book

photo: How can I recycle this

One challenge was transferring my phone book from my old LG Viewty to my new HTC Desire. There was one thing really helped me in this regard: my LG Viewty was unlocked so I could put my T-Mobile SIM card in it and copy my contacts onto the SIM card. I discussed some of my experiences in a previous article.

Experiences with HTC Desire

I will outline some of my experiences with the HTC Desire in a future article.

Summary

So to summarise:

• I used a PAC code to transfer my phone number from O2 to T-Mobile. It takes 2 days to port a number between networks.
• My old O2 SIM card was disabled in this process. The phone is still fully functional but it displays a SIM card error. I can still use the phone but a new SIM card is required though. Free SIM cards are easily available though bear in mind if your phone is locked you’ll need to grab a SIM from the same network or unlock it first.
• I was able to transfer my phone book by copying it to my SIM card.

The HTC Desire is available on T-Mobile on tariffs from £15/month. All of the T-Mobile tariffs include 3GB/month free internet and unlimited texts (with the right Flexible Booster). It is also available on the other major UK mobile networks.

Related posts:

1. HTC Desire Android Smartphone: £15/month on T-Mobile with unlimited texts, internet
2. Mobile Contract Ending? Save £180/yr. by switching to SIM-only deals
3. PAC Codes: How to transfer your mobile number when switching networks

What are flexible boosters?

Flexible boosters are add-ons to T-Mobile Pay Monthly contracts. Every T-Mobile Pay Monthly contract (including SIM only tariffs) is bundled with one free flexible booster and you will receive one free flexible booster regardless of the price point of your tariff (i.e. whether you’re on the cheapest £10/month contract or on the most expensive contract you will get a free flexible booster). Additional flexible boosters can be purchased for £5/month.

photo: *saipal

Customers who purchase T-Mobile contracts with an Android smartphone will also receive a free “unlimited” internet flexible booster with 3GB fair usage. This internet flexible booster is required for the phone to work correctly so is offered for free in addition to another flexible booster. We particularly like the combination of an unlimited texts booster and an unlimited internet booster – both of which would be free when purchasing an Android smartphone on T-Mobile (such as the HTC Desire). The combination of these two flexible boosters give you “unlimited” texts and internet from £10/month – a pretty good combination.

Existing customers could also find that they save money by purchasing an additional flexible booster – for example if you currently spend £10/month on calls to landlines, you could save money by purchasing the £5 unlimited landline talk booster.

What are the available options?

Unlimited Text

• What do you get? Unlimited texts to UK mobiles and UK landline numbers (beginning with 01, 02 or 03 and excluding Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man)
• How much would this cost normally? Texts outside of your allowance normally cost 12p each.
• Existing T-Mobile Customers:
  • Make this your free Flexible Booster: Text FLXB1 to 879
  • Add to your existing T-Mobile contract for £5/month: Text UTXT to 879 or call customer services on 150

Unlimited Internet

• What do you get? 1GB of data. T-Mobile say that if you exceed this fair use limit, you won’t be charged automatically but you could have your data usage restricted.
• How much would this cost normally? £1/day.
• Existing T-Mobile Customers:
  • Make this your free Flexible Booster: Text FLXB2 to 879
  • Add to your existing T-Mobile contract for £5/month: Text WEB to 879 or call customer services on 150

photo: Tycho Moon

Unlimited calls to landlines

• What do you get? Unlimited calls to UK landline numbers (beginning with 01, 02 or 03 and excluding Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man)
• How much would this cost normally? Calls to landlines outside of your call allowance cost 30p/minute.
• Existing T-Mobile Customers:
  • Make this your free Flexible Booster: Text FLXB3 to 879
  • Add to your existing T-Mobile contract for £5/month: Text ULAN to 879 or call customer services on 150

Unlimited calls to T-Mobile

• What do you get? Unlimited calls to other T-Mobile customers.
• How much would this cost normally? Calls to other T-Mobile customers  outside of your call allowance cost 30p/minute.
• Existing T-Mobile Customers:
  • Make this your free Flexible Booster: Text FLXB4 to 879
  • Add to your existing T-Mobile contract for £5/month: Text UTMO to 879 or call customer services on 150

Euro talk & text

• What do you get? You’ll get £7.50 of international calling credit to spend on calls and texts whilst in Europe. In those countries, calls “cost 43p per minute, calls you receive will cost 19p per minute and each text costs 11p”.
• Which countries are covered? According to T-Mobile: “Ireland, Isle of Man, Austria, Azores, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden”
• How much would this cost normally? See above.
• Existing T-Mobile Customers:
  • Make this your free Flexible Booster: Text FLXB5 to 879
  • Add to your existing T-Mobile contract for £5/month: Text EURO5 to 879 or call customer services on 150

photo: Wolfgang Staudt

USA & Canada talk

• What do you get? 120 international calling minutes to landlines and mobiles in USA and Canada. The minutes are to be used from within in the UK.
• How much would this cost normally? Calls to USA and Canada normally normally cost 70p/minute.
• Existing T-Mobile Customers:
  • Make this your free Flexible Booster: Text FLXB6 to 879
  • Add to your existing T-Mobile contract for £5/month: Text USA5 to 879 or call customer services on 150

Europe & Australasia talk

• What do you get? 60 international calling minutes to landlines and mobiles in Europe and Australasia. The minutes are to be used from within in the UK.
• Which countries are covered? According to T-Mobile: “Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Channel Islands, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Rep, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Rep, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey”
• How much would this cost normally? Calls to Europe & Australasia normally normally cost 70p/minute.
• Existing T-Mobile Customers:
  • Make this your free Flexible Booster: Text FLXB7 to 879
  • Add to your existing T-Mobile contract for £5/month: Text EUA5 to 879 or call customer services on 150

There is more information on Flexible Boosters at the T-Mobile website.

How often can you change your flexible boosters?

You can change your Flexible Boosters every 30 days.

Is it worth signing up for extra flexible boosters?

Check to see if any of the flexible boosters above would save you more than £5/month. If so, you’ll save money with that Flexible Booster. For example, if you currently make 20 minutes of calls to the USA per month, you’ll spend £14/month on those calls. With the Flexible Booster, that comes down to £5/month.

How do I sign up to T-Mobile?

You can order Pay Monthly contracts and SIM only contracts through the T-Mobile website. We recommend the HTC Desire – with the correct choice of flexible boosters you can have 100 minutes, unlimited texts and 3GB internet on a cutting edge Android phone for £164 upfront and £10/month.

Related posts:

1. T-Mobile revamp tariffs with ‘Flexible Boosters’, new SIM Only tariffs
2. How to conduct a 15-minute review of your mobile contract and save hundreds
3. Downgrading or upgrading your mobile contract during your contract period

If you’ve been keeping an eye on Ken’s Tech Tips over the last few weeks, you’ll know I’m a big fan of the HTC Desire – easily the most hyped phone so far this year, possibly the first mass-market smartphone and the strongest contender for the iPhone.

What’s fantastic is that we’re also seeing a loads of competition on providing the HTC Desire: we already know that 6 networks will be stocking it. These include:

• 3 (Three) – Three have a range of HTC Desire tariffs, free from £30/mo. Tariffs listed below.
• O2 – O2 have the HTC Desire available on tariffs from £25/month. Tariffs listed below.
• Orange – Orange have the HTC Desire available on tariffs from £25/mo. Tariffs listed below.
• T-Mobile – T-Mobile are now selling the HTC Desire on tariffs from £25/month. Tariffs listed below.
• Vodafone – Vodafone have offering a free HTC Desire with tariffs from £30/month. Tariffs listed below.
• Virgin Mobile – Virgin are offering the HTC desire on tariffs from £15/month (but with a £400 charge for the phone!) and for free from £30/month. Tariffs listed below.

On this page, we’re going to keep track of the launch of every single HTC Desire tariff and make it dead easy for you to find the best value tariff for you. We’ll update it as soon as the networks announce their HTC Desire tariffs.

• 24 month contracts
• 18 month contracts

24 month contracts

£15/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£15.00	£399.99	200	Unlimited	30p/day		£759.99This works out as £31.67 per month. More info »

£20/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£20.00	£399.99	400	Unlimited	30p/day		£879.99This works out as £36.67 per month. More info »
	£20.00	£149.99	200	Unlimited	1000		£629.99This works out as £26.25 per month. More info »

£25/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£25.00	£99.00	100	Unlimited	Unlimited		£699.00This works out as £29.13 per month. More info »
	£25.00	£99.99	300	Unlimited	500		£699.99This works out as £29.17 per month. More info »
	£25.00	£380.00	600	500	3000	Flexible BoosterT-Mobile Flexible Boosters Options include: Unlimited texts Unlimited calls to landlines Unlimited calls to T-Mobile customers Others including discounted intl calls	£980.00This works out as £40.83 per month. More info »
	£25.00	£100.00	600	Unlimited	1000		£700.00This works out as £29.17 per month. More info »
	£25.00	£150.00	100	Unlimited	500		£750.00This works out as £31.25 per month. More info »

£30/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£30.00	£49.00	300	Unlimited	Unlimited		£769.00This works out as £32.04 per month. More info »
	£30.00	£49.99	500	Unlimited	500		£769.99This works out as £32.08 per month. More info »
	£30.00	£49.99	400	Unlimited	750	50 photo messages	£769.99This works out as £32.08 per month. More info »
	£32.00	Free	500	3000	1000	2 months Spotify	£768.00This works out as £32.00 per month. More info »
	£30.00	£60.00	900	500	3000	Flexible BoosterT-Mobile Flexible Boosters Options include: Unlimited texts Unlimited calls to landlines Unlimited calls to T-Mobile customers Others including discounted intl calls	£780.00This works out as £32.50 per month. More info »
	£30.00	Free	800	Unlimited	1000		£720.00This works out as £30.00 per month. More info »
	£30.00	Free	600	Unlimited	500		£720.00This works out as £30.00 per month. More info »

£35/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£35.00	Free	2000	5000	1000	6 months Spotify	£840.00This works out as £35.00 per month. More info »
	£35.00	Free	900	3000	1000	2 months Spotify	£840.00This works out as £35.00 per month. More info »
	£35.00	Free	600	Unlimited	Unlimited		£840.00This works out as £35.00 per month. More info »
	£35.00	Free	800	Unlimited	500		£840.00This works out as £35.00 per month. More info »
	£35.00	Free	600	Unlimited	750	50 photo messages	£840.00This works out as £35.00 per month. More info »
	£35.00	Free	1200	500	3000	Flexible BoosterT-Mobile Flexible Boosters Options include: Unlimited texts Unlimited calls to landlines Unlimited calls to T-Mobile customers Others including discounted intl calls	£840.00This works out as £35.00 per month. More info »
	£35.00	Free	1000	Unlimited	1000		£840.00This works out as £35.00 per month. More info »
	£35.00	Free	900	Unlimited	500	Unlimited landlines	£840.00This works out as £35.00 per month. More info »

£40/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£40.00	Free	900	Unlimited	Unlimited		£960.00This works out as £40.00 per month. More info »
	£40.00	Free	1200	Unlimited	750	50 photo messages	£960.00This works out as £40.00 per month. More info »
	£40.00	Free	1200	Unlimited	500	Unlimited landlines	£960.00This works out as £40.00 per month. More info »

£45/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£45.00	Free	1200	Unlimited	Unlimited		£1,080.00This works out as £45.00 per month. More info »

£60/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£60.00	Free	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited		£1,440.00This works out as £60.00 per month. More info »

£75/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£75.00	Free	3000	Unlimited	750	50 photo messages	£1,800.00This works out as £75.00 per month. More info »

18 month contracts

£20/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£20.00	£399.99	200	Unlimited	30p/day		£759.99This works out as £42.22 per month. More info »

£25/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£25.00	£399.99	400	Unlimited	30p/day		£849.99This works out as £47.22 per month. More info »

£30/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£30.00	£99.00	100	Unlimited	Unlimited		£639.00This works out as £35.50 per month. More info »
	£30.00	£99.99	300	Unlimited	500		£639.99This works out as £35.56 per month. More info »
	£30.00	£380.00	600	500	3000	Flexible BoosterT-Mobile Flexible Boosters Options include: Unlimited texts Unlimited calls to landlines Unlimited calls to T-Mobile customers Others including discounted intl calls	£920.00This works out as £51.11 per month. More info »
	£30.00	£114.99	600	Unlimited	1000		£654.99This works out as £36.39 per month. More info »

£35/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£35.00	£49.00	300	Unlimited	Unlimited		£679.00This works out as £37.72 per month. More info »
	£35.00	£49.99	500	Unlimited	500		£679.99This works out as £37.78 per month. More info »
	£35.00	£49.99	400	Unlimited	750	50 photo messages	£679.99This works out as £37.78 per month. More info »
	£35.00	£60.00	900	500	3000	Flexible BoosterT-Mobile Flexible Boosters Options include: Unlimited texts Unlimited calls to landlines Unlimited calls to T-Mobile customers Others including discounted intl calls	£690.00This works out as £38.33 per month. More info »
	£35.00	Free	800	Unlimited	1000		£630.00This works out as £35.00 per month. More info »
	£35.00	Free	600	Unlimited	500		£630.00This works out as £35.00 per month. More info »

£40/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£40.00	Free	600	Unlimited	Unlimited		£720.00This works out as £40.00 per month. More info »
	£40.00	Free	600	Unlimited	750	50 photo messages	£720.00This works out as £40.00 per month. More info »
	£40.00	Free	1200	500	3000	Flexible BoosterT-Mobile Flexible Boosters Options include: Unlimited texts Unlimited calls to landlines Unlimited calls to T-Mobile customers Others including discounted intl calls	£720.00This works out as £40.00 per month. More info »
	£40.00	Free	1000	Unlimited	1000		£720.00This works out as £40.00 per month. More info »
	£40.00	Free	900	Unlimited	500	Unlimited landlines	£720.00This works out as £40.00 per month. More info »

£45/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£45.00	Free	900	Unlimited	Unlimited		£810.00This works out as £45.00 per month. More info »
	£45.00	Free	1200	Unlimited	750	50 photo messages	£810.00This works out as £45.00 per month. More info »
	£45.00	Free	1200	Unlimited	500	Unlimited landlines	£810.00This works out as £45.00 per month. More info »

£50/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£50.00	Free	1200	Unlimited	Unlimited		£900.00This works out as £50.00 per month. More info »

£65/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£65.00	Free	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited		£1,170.00This works out as £65.00 per month. More info »

£80/month

Network	Monthly Cost	Phone Cost	Minutes	Texts	Data (MB)	Extras	Total Cost
	£80.00	Free	3000	Unlimited	750	50 photo messages	£1,440.00This works out as £80.00 per month. More info »

Last updated: 2nd July 2010

Related posts:

1. Compare Apple iPhone prices and tariffs: Fully updated for iPhone 4
2. The UK’s SIM only tariffs: Prices and Tariffs compared
3. Vodafone launches Google Nexus One… but you’ll save £240 with the HTC Desire

As a mobile technology blogger, I make my way through hundreds of blog posts, emails, press releases, news article and tweets every single day. In the many years of maintaining Ken’s Tech Tips, it’s been rare that I’ve been as excited as I was on Tuesday when I read about T-Mobile’s sensational £10/mo. HTC Desire tariff. For me (and this is something the vast majority of technology writers would find puzzling as they find the phones more interesting than the tariffs), this was as exciting a moment as the launch of the original iPhone and then subsequently the iPhone App Store. It was exciting enough that I stopped doing my work, got in touch with friends to hear their experiences of T-Mobile reception in the local area and then I spent a good hour or two telling my friends about it.

Why was this so exciting? We’ve got the irresistible combination of a new and cutting-edge flagship smartphone, running the latest version of the Google Android operating system, on a tariff which would probably beat the socks off the vast majority of Pay As You Go tariffs and even the best SIM only tariffs for smartphones. I wrote in my review of 2009 in December that mass-market adoption of Android could very easily tip the balance of power away from Apple and its iPhone device. The launch of the HTC Desire on the £10 tariff was the first time I genuinely thought to myself: “We finally have a world-class smartphone available on a good value tariff at a price point which will appeal to the mass-market”.

Smartphones are current breaking the bank

Until recently, smartphones were just way too expensive for your typical mobile phone user: that is somebody who uses their mobile phone on a daily basis and loves the freedom afforded by a phone but who wouldn’t class themselves as a technology enthusiast or a “geek”.

The thing is… £35/month (the cost of a typical smartphone contract) is a huge amount of money. Over 2 years, it adds up to £840. Although these tariffs come bundled with a large amount of airtime, the vast majority of those inclusive minutes, unfortunately, are left unused and just become money thrown down the drain. At £840, a smartphone just isn’t a cheap or affordable for many people.

photo: William Hook

In my blog posts over the last few months, I have spent a lot of time discussing how to cut the costs of using a smartphone. I genuinely believe that smartphones have the power to revolutionise the lives of its users by opening up a whole world of information wherever you are, by giving you greater freedom away from your desk and by making it possible to communicate with your friends in a whole multitude of new ways.

I believe that everyone should be able to benefit from smartphone technology and to be able to afford it. And over the last months, I’ve tried to find a way to make smartphones as accessible and understandable as possible to people. I’ve exposed the real costs of the iPhone, developed a price comparison tool to highlight the best tariffs, mused about DIY-iPhones using a MiFi+iPod, highlighted SIM only alternatives and even uncovered loopholes to get a cheaper iPhone. I was really hoping for a price war when Orange, Tesco Mobile and Vodafone all launched the iPhone earlier this year but we were disappointed in the end.

I suppose the cheapest way we found to grab an iPhone was simply to grab it on Pay As You Go. But still, that would set you back £440 – about the same cost as a laptop (assuming you didn’t want to buy the now 2-years out of data iPhone 3G model).

Even once you’ve got your hands on a smartphone, you’d still have the problem of finding a decent tariff for it with an inclusive data allowance – after all a smartphone is only “smart” with a data connection. And when you’d look for a tariff with a data allowance, you’d find yourself being charged £10/month for a data “bolt on” or something. O2 Text and Web was perhaps the best value and most suitable PAYG tariff we found (which is still available) but it still required a top up of £10 or £15/month.

Once you add the huge upfront cost of the phone to the regular (and still fairly substantial) monthly top ups, it still didn’t work out that much cheaper than contract.

Why the game has changed

For the first time, we have an amazing smartphone for a great price, and on a truly amazing tariff.

photo: laihiu

Firstly, the phone itself. HTC have already made a name for themselves manufacturing Android smartphones – Google even asked them to build the Nexus One for them. HTC’s previous phone (the HTC Hero) won awards. The HTC Desire is the flagship HTC phone for 2010 and it’s been setting the technology press buzzing. This is a smartphone to be reckoned with; this is probably one of the best Android phones, and best smartphones that money can buy. T-Mobile are charging just £164 for one. That’s a stunning price. The last two phones I bought on PAYG cost £140 and £110 – and neither one was a smartphone. £164 for a smartphone, let alone the Desire, is sensational. Sure, £164 might seem to be a lot for a contract phone, but it’s great value considering the tariff is such good value.

Secondly, the tariff. I’m a huge advocate of SIM only tariffs – low-cost tariffs which don’t provide a phone. Amazingly, T-Mobile manage to provide a very good airtime allowance on their HTC Desire tariffs – an allowance which probably beats most SIM only tariffs. In my previous post, I talked about how the tariff offered 100 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited internet for £10/month (through the choice of suitable flexible boosters). This is something even SIM only tariffs would find it hard to match.

What is the mass market?

Just from experience of speaking to readers and friends, I’ve found that PAYG customers currently spend about £100 on a new phone and top up around £8-£10 per month. For these customers, the HTC Desire £10/mo. T-Mobile tariff is marginally more expensive.

photo: papalars

On contracts, most people like to currently spend about £20 or £25/month. For these people, I am sure the £10/mo. deal (or maybe £15 or £20 deals for more minutes) would provide cost savings over their current phone as well as a new piece of kit.

The challenge for the iPhone HD has been set…

So the challenge is now on for Apple. It either has to be revolutionary or we’re going to have to see a big drop in prices this year. I think we’ve just seen our first state of the art smartphone priced for the mass-market. The Legend is going to be huge; the game has just changed.

Notes

• We reported the launch of HTC Desire on a £10/month tariff with unlimited texts and internet on Tuesday. The total cost of ownership is half of that of the cheapest iPhone.
• The HTC Desire is available through the T-Mobile website.

Related posts:

1. HTC Desire Android Smartphone: £15/month on T-Mobile with unlimited texts, internet
2. Commentary: How fair are “unlimited” internet fair usage limits?
3. T-Mobile release HTC Wildfire Android Smartphone for £10/mo with unlimited texts, internet