Virgin punts cheap BlackBerry Curve

Virgin Media is offering the BlackBerry Curve 8520 - reviewed here - in what it claims os the "most competitive" pay-monthly package this smartphone can be found on.

The phone is free and you're expected to fork out £12 a month for two years - £288 in total.

If you're a Virgin telly or broadband subscriber, it'll set you back just a tenner a month - £240 all in. Students with a valid NUS Extra card get 15 per cent off the monthly fee: they pay £10.20 per month, £244.80 over the two-year period.

The BlackBerry Curve deal also includes 'unlimited' web and push email data usage. It also includes 50 minutes' talk time and 250 texts a month. Paying more per month will get you more time and texts.

And we notice that Virgin will charge you an extra £6 a month for insurance, though the first month's cover is free. That's an extra £138 for the life of the contract, so make sure you tell them you don't want this if that's the case. Virgin also wants a fiver for delivery.

The year-old 8520 is one of RIM's full Qwerty BlackBerries, and has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 2Mp camera and a Micro SD card slot. But there's no 3G or GPS, and the screen is just 320 x 240. ®