Mobile phones - useful tip (UK)

[Genghis the Engineer]

Story goes like this. My better half had got fed up of the constant cost of a mobile phone she only had for emergencies, so cancelled it and asked Santa for a pay-as-you-go jobbie.

As Santa's duty helper, I spent yesterday traipsing around the shops comparing deals on phones, when in frustration I finally asked the daft question "can't I just turn the wife's old Mitsubishi phone into a pay as you go for a lot less money".

To my surprise, the answer was yes. For the grand price of £25 I got a little card which slots into the old and perfectly serviceable phone, turns it into a pay-as-you-go and credits the thing with £20 of calls.

Net expenditure £5, money saved I can now spend on frilly underwear to go in bottom of stocking: £25+.

I've no idea why the shops don't advertise that such a thing was available; I got this one from Vodaphone, but presumably the other shops do similar things.

[This message has been edited by Genghis the Engineer (edited 11 December 1999).]

[socrates]

Genghis

Had a similar problem myself, but with Orange. Thankfully, and afeter nearly giving up, I managed to resurrect the phone I paid mega bucks for a few years ago when digital were first introduced, for £25.00. This is obviously much cheaper than the alternative of buying a new package and being left with an ‘obsolete’ phone. The reason the phone companies do not publish this little known fact is because they want you to commit to the more expensive option, from the horses mouth, as it were, and even I was misinformed by quite a few reputable outlets (Dixons (?)) that I could not get my original phone reconnected.

Out of interest with Orange if you buy the £50.00 voucher then calls become cheaper compared to the lesser value vouchers, ie, 25p peak 5p cheap versus 35p peak and 15p cheap (I think).

[Capt Ted Striker]

IMHO an even cheaper option is to just buy the sim card and forget about monthly rentals. I buy a sim card annually and just slot it into my second hand phone. There are no monthly charges and the first £5 of calls monthly are free! The drawback is that you have to change your phone number every year but it sure does make owning a mobile cheap!
I am a very light user and have only had to pay a bill for calls for a couple of months.
The sim card costs about £40 but may be cheaper now.


[This message has been edited by Capt Ted Striker (edited 30 April 2000).]

[PA38]

I have just got my Mother a Sim card from here, http://www.mobilephones.freeuk.com
It was £13.99 gives £10.00 of pay as you go call on Vodafone, just buy top up cards as needed.
Plus there is no time limit to top ups, don't use it don't top it up.

[Speechless Two]

Thanks for that web site, PA38 - just what I've been looking for. I have a query though. My Motorola cd920 (dual band)is presently on the First contract with BT Cellnet.

I want to change to Orange and buy a SIM card as advertised in the aforementioned web site. I appreciate I will be given a new number, which is no problem, but is the phone itself somehow locked to BT Cellnet, or is it just the existing SIM card?

I'm fairly sure it's only the SIM card that's locked to BT Cellnet but I'd appreciate confirmation from you knowledgable ones out there.

[blackadder]

I have a 5110 & 2 x 6150's that need unlocking.
I did have a contact who would do the job for £15 each but lost his number.
Any contacts please?

[Anon-x]

The cheapest option has to be Virgin Mobile. Purchase a phone for as little as £59.99 and a Sim card for £12.50. The Sim card includes £10.00 of calls. No monthly charges. If you already have a phone (must be dual band) just buy the Sim card for £12.50 from any Virgin Mega Store or via the net at www.virgin.com/mobile/ (http://www.virgin.com/mobile/)

[spannersatcx]

Speechless two, I thought that as of Jan 1 2000 you could keep/transfer your mobile number to which ever provider you change to?

[PA38]

Speechless two, it should work on Orange, can't you find a passing person with an Orange phone and try the sim in your phone?
Or a 0ne20ne as they work on 1800gsm as well.
Or you could ask the seller if it will work, as far as I know it should as long as it's not reported lost/stolen.

[Speechless Two]

Thanks for the info, spanners and PA38. Yes, I believe you can transfer numbers between providers, but I gather some if not all, certainly Orange, charge £35 for the privilege when you leave them. I'm a very light user now so the change of number isn't a problem.

[StopStart]

Speechless 2 - as the proud owner of about 5 handsets now (godammit) I can confirm that the Sim card is the phone's only connection to the outside world. If you swap cards you get the network, number and phone book of the phone it came from. :)

[Speechless Two]

Thanks for that StopStart - off to buy a sim card tomorrow!

[wifeof]

I wish I'd read this a couple of months ago, after being given the run around trying to get a new sim card for my old phone, I've ended up buying a new one! What a waste, I too tried all the reputable phone shops and was told "no way". Ho Hum!

[Capt Ted Striker]

Just an update chaps. I phoned Virgin after seeing the advice in this thread.
I told them I did not have a dual band phone and I was told their SIM wouldn't work in my phone then.
However, I said in that case I'll have to buy one of your phones. I was told " oh don't do that, if you hang on and check back with us, probably before the end of May we'll be announcing news that will interest phome users like you"
I think it was very sporting of Virgin to "tip me the wink" as it were. The very nice girl also told me to check out all the prices as the competition were dropping prices all around.
So if any of you don't have dual band but would like to buy just the Virgin sim, we may be in luck soon!