Vodafone eyes iPhone switchers for fresh Sim-only deals
Carrot dangled for O2 contracts coming to an end
Vodafone has rolled out revamped Sim-only price plans.
Prices run from £10 to £30, the ten packages offer a mix of bundled talk minutes, texts, calls to landlines and mobile internet data transfer totals. Some also bundle BT Openzone Wi-Fi access.
Some contracts run for 30-day periods, others for a full year.
So, for £25 a month for one year, you could get yourself a Sim, 1200 talk minutes, unlimited texting, unlimited calls to landlines and 500MB of mobile broadband usage.
Or, for the the same money, you could take fewer minutes - 900 - but gain 1GB of mobile broadband and free Wi-Fi.
Vodafone indicated it was pitching the packages at iPhone users - presumably those who're coming up to the end of their 18-month O2 contracts and have asked that network to unlock their handsets.
Full details of the ten packages can be found here. ®
COMMENTS
O2 iPhone Simplicity
I found that the cheapest tariff I could get now I've come to end of my iPhone contract is in fact to stay with O2 and get their iPhone simplicity tariff. They don't advertise this but if you ring cancellations and ask for it they will give it to you.
£20 a month for 1200 texts, 600 minutes, and the same unlimited data and openzone wifi you get with the standard iPhone tariff. This seems to be the best iPhone deal I could find whilst keeping unlimited data (or o2's version of unlimited anyway)
Eh?
Voda have been doing SIM-only deals for ages. How is this news? I signed my wife up to a £10/month + £5 unlimited internet bolt-on for her Nexus over a week ago?!!
Or, just get a regular simplicity contract...
The regular 12 month simplicity contract, 1600 sms, 800 minutes and 'unlimited' 3G internet is £20 too... and it works great on iPhone. (Yeah, you lose the visual voicemail and tethering but still...) Plus, get it through topcashback and make some dosh while you're at it.
I Stuck with o2
Someone in a o2 shop switched me from my (expired) iPhone contract to the Simplicity tariff. If I joined online with my £20 a month I could get 700 minutes talk to any network, 1400 texts (no use to me) and unlimited internet (in practice over 3gb). AND I get a cheaper home broadband with o2.
More importantly than the above, however, is the one thing that, for the time being at any rate, is more important ... o2 really have got their Customer Services act together. They have been excellent in all my dealing with them and have UK call centres so I can understand them (Scots accents being OK).
So why would I change?
Let's see what deals they'll do with iPad 3g!
PAYG
While Virgin are doing 1GB/mo for £5 on PAYG. On the rare occasions I feel the need to do anything as old school as make a voice call or send a text, I'm quite happy to pay the extra. I'm certainly not going to shell out around £20 a month without even getting a "free" handset for my money.
