Vodafone
 | The UK’s Best Value SIM-Only Tariffs (1 month and 12 month contracts) If you’ve completed your mobile phone contract or you’re looking to switch from Pay As You Go, you can save hundreds of pounds per year by switching to a SIM-only contract.
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. | |||||||||||||||||||||
 | Vodafone launch mobile wi-fi hotspot; but it’s pricey Vodafone have launched a new dongle which allows you to share mobile broadband between all of your wi-fi devices. We dig through all the hype.
The hotspot will allow up to 5 connections at once and according to Vodafone will last for up to four hours on a single charge. What tariffs is this available on? Vodafone are offering the hotspot on three Pay Monthly tariffs starting from £15/month:
For more information on what the monthly allowance means in terms of webpages, emails or downloads see our detailed guide to download limits. | |||||||||||||||||||||
 | Vodafone Passport offers cheaper calls whilst abroad in Europe, Australia, New Zealand If you’re travelling abroad to Europe, Australia or New Zealand then Vodafone offer discounted calls and texts with their “Passport” scheme.
How much do calls abroad cost with Vodafone Passport? “Vodafone Passport” is an opt-in feature of Vodafone’s Pay Monthly and Pay As You Go tariffs. In “Passport countries”, you pay your standard UK call costs plus a 75p connection charge for each call. For Pay As You Go customers on the “Simply” tariff:
A standard 10 minute call from Australia/NZ to the UK would cost £8 without Passport and £2.75 with Passport. If you were on the receiving end of a 10 minute call, you would pay £7.50 without Passport and just 75p with Passport. For travellers to Europe, the savings are less substantial but you’ll still save money on calls of 4 minutes or longer. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The UK’s Best Value Smartphone SIM-only Tariffs with Internet Access If you’ve got a smartphone such as a Blackberry, iPhone or Android phone and you’ve completed the course of your original contract, you can save hundreds of pounds every year switching to a SIM-only tariff.
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. | |||||||||||||||||||||
 | Compare Apple iPhone prices and tariffs: Fully updated for iPhone 4
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. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Vodafone introducing charges for exceeding 500MB internet fair usage If you’re a Vodafone customer, act quickly to find out how much internet you use – charges are being introduced for exceeding fair usage from June.
Background I’ve never particularly been happy with the fact that mobile networks advertise their services as “unlimited” whilst imposing limits on how they can be used. In February, I highlighted how much of a problem this actually is and how inconsistently limits are applied (“unlimited” internet ranges from 200MB to 3GB). Although the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have approved the use of the term “unlimited”, we think that it only causes confusion amongst customers. I frequently receive emails about this and last month I investigated unlimited mobile internet packages in more detail – some networks charge up to £3/MB once customers exceed their fair usage policies whereas other networks promise they will not charge you extra. | |||||||||||||||||||||
 | How unlimited is your “unlimited mobile internet”? What does “unlimited internet” really mean? In the world of mobiles, it means download limits and usage restrictions. Ken’s Tech Tips reveals the “fair usage” policies of the networks.
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:
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 | Vodafone launches Google Nexus One… but you’ll save £240 with the HTC Desire Vodafone has launched the Nexus One in the UK on contracts from £35/month. However, you’ll get the almost identical HTC Desire for £5/month less and shop around the networks and you’ll save £10/month.
The Nexus One is Google’s own Android 2.1 smartphone manufactured by HTC. It’s the phone that the much-hyped HTC Desire is based off. In fact, they are both manufactured by HTC but have slightly different hardware designs. The HTC Desire also has HTC’s additional Sense UI as opposed to the standard user interface of Android. There are some small differences between the Nexus One contracts and HTC Desire contracts being offered by Vodafone. The key finding is that the Desire is £5/month cheaper (although the fair usage cap is lower). However, by shopping around the networks you can get the HTC Desire with the same number of minutes a 3GB fair usage limit for up to £10/month less. | |||||||||||||||||||||
 | Compare HTC Desire prices: 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone VS Virgin Ken’s Tech Tips compares all of the HTC Desire tariffs in the UK – from all 6 of the major networks.
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:
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. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Downgrading or upgrading your mobile contract during your contract period If you’re currently stuck in a 18-month contract or a 24-month contract which gives you too little airtime or too much airtime, you might be able to take advantage of a special clause in your operator’s terms and conditions to change your contract and airtime allowance, even if you are currently in the middle of a contract. Most networks will allow you to upgrade your contract at any time to get more inclusive airtime; O2, Orange and Vodafone also allow you to downgrade to a cheaper contract after 9 months.
Why might I want to do this?
Sometimes it is possible to find loopholes: for example you could sign up for an expensive contract to get a free/cheaper phone and then downgrade your contract after 9 months to something cheaper. This would be cheaper than signing up for the cheaper contract to start off with. |
More and more people are deciding that they’re happy with their existing phone and opting to switch to a cheaper 
Vodafone have just launched the 
If you’re travelling abroad to Europe, Australia or New Zealand (particularly to the latter two as they offer the most substantial savings), you may find it good value to grab yourself a 
The iPhone 4 has landed. Ken’s Tech Tips looks at all of the tariffs from across the networks – O2, Orange, Tesco Mobile, T-Mobile, Three and Vodafone.
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 
