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Picking the perfect mobile phone
By Emma Lunn
Whether you want the latest phone, or just a basic handset to make and receive calls, there's a mobile phone out there for you. Similarly, if you make hundreds of calls each month or just a few, there's a tariff to suit your needs. However, choosing the right package for you isn't always straightforward.
Pay-as-you-go or contract
The first decision you need to make is how you want to pay for your calls. Do you prefer to pay for your calls upfront with a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) deal or would you prefer a monthly contract?
With PAYG or 'pre-pay' you purchase a mobile and then buy top-up vouchers which allow you to make calls. With a contract mobile phone you need to commit to either 12 or 18 months and sign a contract which will specify a monthly price for line rental and the number of free voice minutes and texts you get each month. Then you are either sent a monthly bill or you can arrange to pay by direct debit.
If you opt for PAYG, it's a good idea to shop around, for example, a Sony Ericsson W810i phone on Orange PAYG costs £159.95, but the same phone on Vodafone costs £179.95. Shoppers may be tempted to purchase the phone with Orange as it's cheaper, but for a call across networks at any time will cost 35p a minute, whereas a call across networks on Vodafone costs 30p at peak times and 10p off peak. So the Orange phone could be more expensive in the long run.
The right contract
If you opt for a contract there's plenty of choice. However, comparing tariffs can be confusing - most come with a free handset, although the best ones will only be available on more expensive contracts.
Think about how many voice minutes you will use and how many texts you will send, and consider if you want the phone to have an integrated mp3 player or a camera.
Even the most basic handsets allow users to do more than just call or text. Most will include a clock, address book, calendar, camera and alarm clock. At the other end of the scale, gadget addicts can use their mobile in the same way they might use a laptop: using the internet to connect to the office email system and using video services. This comes at a cost, with specific content charges or fees based on the amount of data transferred.
Sony Ericsson has the Walkman phone, which can be used instead of an iPod, the model numbers start with a W, such as the W950i, which costs about £160. Sony also offers handsets starting with a K (for camera), such as the K750i, which has a very powerful camera.
When you've decided what you want to use your phone for, think about how much you will use it. Monthly subscriptions come with a quota of voice minutes and texts. If you go above these limits you will have to pay more. Contracts tend to be for 12 or 18 months, with the cheapest being offered to those signing up for 18 months.
For very light users who make less than 50 minutes of calls a month, Virgin Mobile has a tariff of £20 for 12 months. You get 50 minutes of calls and 100 texts a month. If you exceed your allowance, calls to other networks cost 35p a minute and texts are only 10p.
And for text addicts, the 18-month Dolphin tariff from Orange gives you 850 texts and 150 airtime minutes for £25 a month, if you buy online.
If you make more than 200 minutes of calls a month, T-Mobile's Flext 30 is an 18-month tariff, with a flexible monthly allowance of around 300 minutes of calls and 300 texts. But the same tariff would allow you to consume, say, 400 minutes with 100 texts, or 200 minutes with 500 texts, without any need to change tariff. T-Mobile currently offers this for £25, if you sign up online.
It's usually better to sign up for a tariff that offers more inclusive minutes and texts than you need, because as soon as you run out, additional usage can become very expensive.
Calling overseas
If you use your mobile phone abroad you will have to use mobile 'roaming'. This involves using your destination country's mobile network and can be very expensive. International rates vary depending on your network, where you travel to and whether you are a contract customer or PAYG. Generally, PAYG customers pay more.
Research suggests that O2 PAYG customers face the most expensive overseas calls, T-Mobile holidaymakers have the best bargain.
Shopping around
There are two main ways to sign up to a mobile contract - with a retailer or directly with a network. Retailers can be high-street stores such as Carphone Warehouse, or website-only such as Onestopphoneshop.co.uk. These tend to negotiate volume deals with providers and pass on the discounts to customers as reduced line rental for set periods. This often takes the form of 'cashback' deals, which involves reclaiming money from the retailer up to three times during your contract.
This can, however, involve a lot of hard work. For example, e2save.com offers a free Motorola Razr V3 Pink on an 18-month Virgin Mobile contract with 11 months line rental at only 99p. To claim your discount you have to send your 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th monthly bills within 30 days of the stated date to e2save.com and it will credit you by cheque with £62.28 each time.
Alternatively, you can always buy your phone and sign a contract direct with a network. Networks operating in the UK are O2, Vodafone, 3, Orange, Virgin and T-Mobile. The network's website will tell you where they have coverage and where they intend to improve their signal in the future.
The networks all sell phones and contracts and offer different tariffs depending on which channel you buy through. However, advertised tariffs might not be the best deals. If you're coming to the end of your existing contract, it's usually possible to negotiate a better deal. New providers may up their offer in a bid to steal your custom.
Most retailers will try and sell you mobile-phone insurance but this is rarely worthwhile. A policy can add £5 to £10 a month to your bill and should cover you if your phone is lost or stolen and any fraudulent calls made. However, a replacement handset can normally be bought from as little as £40 and mobile phone insurance policies tend to have a lot of exclusions.
A number of insurers cover mobile phones as standard against theft, loss and damage as part of their personal belongings cover. But customers should be aware that home insurance will usually not pay out for the cost of calls made on the stolen phone.
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