When did phones get so expensive???!!!

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Dale_tem

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Coming to the end of my contract on my HTC Desire at £26 a month.

I'm looking at the latest phones and with Vodafone, I need to pay £41 a month to get the Galaxy Nexus free or £36 to get the HTC Sensation XL.

I'm used to Apple products being expensive, but android phones?????

Looks like I won't be getting the latest phone this time, i can't justify £500 a year on a phone.

I currently get 500Mb data for £26, I have to spend £36 a month to get the same deal. :(
 
You are so right. The price of all of them have rocketed. Think this may be due to the shortness of electronic components because if Japan last year and the knock on effect throughout the world.
 
I pay for my iPhones upfront and find cheap sim only month by month deals.

Currently costs £12pm for 500mins, unlimited texts and data.

Works out much cheaper than mates stuck on 18/24 month contracts paying £35+ a month after shelling out for the phone too.

Plus I can upgrade when I want.
 
I'm the same

Early upgrade choices are rubbish but even looking ahead at larger HTC XL models - they're so expensive compared to my current plan.
 
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Dale_d3100 said:
Coming to the end of my contract on my HTC Desire at £26 a month.
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The upgrade relative to the Desire is the HTC sensation at around £30 from T-Mobile or £25 from 3 (and probably less if you shop around)!

Dale_d3100 said:
I'm looking at the latest phones and with Vodafone, I need to pay £41 a month to get the Galaxy Nexus free or £36 to get the HTC Sensation XL.
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Nexus can be had for £34 from 3 or Sensation XE £28!

Dale_d3100 said:
I'm used to Apple products being expensive, but android phones?????
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Shop around and you can always transfer your number free to and from any of the operators

Dale_d3100 said:
I currently get 500Mb data for £26, I have to spend £36 a month to get the same deal. :(
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The above offers are for more than that.
Shop around.

And if you are worried about coverage, T-Mobile and 3 share their 3G network and have the best 3G coverage of any of the operators.
 
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vodafone are usually the most expensive... I got my SE Xperia arc free with a £26 contract- its 18months though. I would say compared to what it was in the past you get a lot of phone for your money these days!
 
EOS_JD said:
The upgrade relative to the Desire is the HTC sensation at around £30 from T-Mobile or £25 from 3 (and probably less if you shop around)!

Nexus can be had for £34 from 3 or Sensation XE £28!

Shop around and you can always transfer your number free to and from any of the operators

The above offers are for more than that.
Shop around.

And if you are worried about coverage, T-Mobile and 3 share their 3G network and have the best 3G coverage of any of the operators.
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The man in the know lol
 
duttytd said:
The man in the know lol
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Only took 2 mins to search the operator pages. :) I work in the mobile industry (on radio networks)
 
Just because your contract is up doesn't mean you have to change it does it?
 
I would never pay more than £10 per month - for this I get 1GB data, 100 minutes & 3000 texts. Suits me fine as I hardly ever make voice calls or text, but normally use at least 800gb data per month.

I paid £285 for a 2nd hand iphone 4 which will probably still be worth £150 if I sell it after a year, so all in all it costs me about £250 per year to run a phone.
 
dan_yorkshire said:
I pay for my iPhones upfront and find cheap sim only month by month deals.

Currently costs £12pm for 500mins, unlimited texts and data.

Works out much cheaper than mates stuck on 18/24 month contracts paying £35+ a month after shelling out for the phone too.

Plus I can upgrade when I want.
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same here ! :)

monthly payments for phones sometimes are beyond a joke !
 
boliston said:
I would never pay more than £10 per month - for this I get 1GB data, 100 minutes & 3000 texts. Suits me fine as I hardly ever make voice calls or text, but normally use at least 800gb data per month.

I paid £285 for a 2nd hand iphone 4 which will probably still be worth £150 if I sell it after a year, so all in all it costs me about £250 per year to run a phone.
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share the knowledge then, who is that with and what deal?
 
I wish we could get more attractive deals, but the only services that work - sort of - around here are Vodafone and O2. Both signals have deteriorated over the last 12 months. We were never able to get 3G, but most of the time we're down to 2 bar GPRS now.
 
The wifes contract is up in march so she went and had a look at what was on offer, she has the iphone 3Gs at the moment and was shocked at the prices, so she said to the guy in th shop, can I just go monthly till xmas and decide then as you have much better deals on then, reply was yes certainly, your contract will just roll over monthly at the cost it is now and yes you are right around xmas timew there will be better deals around.

spike
 
MartynK said:
I wish we could get more attractive deals, but the only services that work - sort of - around here are Vodafone and O2. Both signals have deteriorated over the last 12 months. We were never able to get 3G, but most of the time we're down to 2 bar GPRS now.
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Where are you Martyn and I'll have a look at the coverage we provide. PM me a post code.
 
SpikeK6 said:
The wifes contract is up in march so she went and had a look at what was on offer, she has the iphone 3Gs at the moment and was shocked at the prices, so she said to the guy in th shop, can I just go monthly till xmas and decide then as you have much better deals on then, reply was yes certainly, your contract will just roll over monthly at the cost it is now and yes you are right around xmas timew there will be better deals around.

spike
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Why not cancel the contract and get a sim only deal.... probably a lot cheaper! As you are still paying an element for the phone in your current contract...... why carry that on?
 
Steep said:
Just because your contract is up doesn't mean you have to change it does it?
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No but you'll be paying more than you need to.
 
Phone contracts are an expensive way to buy a phone. Most of them work out more than buying a phone sim free + the cost of the cheapest calls alternative.

They used to be good value but now they just aren't. I only wondered about staying with o2 as I had a contract with free voicemail, unlimited texts/MMS & unlimited internet but the phone I had free with them no longer worked so it seemed stupid to pay them nearly £40 a month and have to buy another phone or renew the contract and have to pay even more a month for far less. New o2 contracts stink compared to the older ones. Went to giffgaff where I pay £10 a month and have 99% of my usage within that £10.
 
Dale_d3100 said:
Coming to the end of my contract on my HTC Desire at £26 a month.

I'm looking at the latest phones and with Vodafone, I need to pay £41 a month to get the Galaxy Nexus free or £36 to get the HTC Sensation XL.

I'm used to Apple products being expensive, but android phones?????

Looks like I won't be getting the latest phone this time, i can't justify £500 a year on a phone.

I currently get 500Mb data for £26, I have to spend £36 a month to get the same deal. :(
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But its not expensive IMO as you are getting the phone 'free' anyway. You could pay say £200 for phone and get a lower tarif, or buy SIM only and use giffgaff or similar. I recently went to a SIM only Voda tariff (as waiting for iphone 5) and pay £10.25 a month for 500mb data, 300 mins (maybe more) and something like 3k texts.

If you take the iphone 4, which is around £400 SIM only, I dont believe its expensive for what it is. It takes decent video and can take reasonable pics. It is also a music player and video player, and a games machine...
 
Mobile phone service providers have a clever marketing strategy. Consumers have an appetite for the latest and greatest phones, and a lot of people can't afford/don't want to pay £400 odd to buy a phone, so they make it 'easy' for you. Go online, or phone them, and your new phone will arrive in a day or two, with a package, for around £30 - £35/month. Part of this is to cover the 'free' handset, but the service provider gets guaranteed income for the duration of the contract and, hopefully, you'll just upgrade at the end of it and the whole cycle starts again. Nothing wrong with this, providing you understand how it works and what benefits each party gets out of it.
 
EOS_JD said:
And if you are worried about coverage, T-Mobile and 3 share their 3G network and have the best 3G coverage of any of the operators.
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T-Mobile and 3 share transmission mast sites (and 3 have some micro sites not included in the mast share).

T-Mobile and Orange actually have the shared network (both 2G and 3G) as they are now a merged company called Everything Everywhere.

A T-Mobile or Orange customer can now use either network without restriction, and also have the benefit of the mast share with 3, making for very good coverage.

Phone wise, I seem to have a slightly different yearly plan. I still have a monthly contract but it is an old T-Mobile Flext 35 plan that offers far more value than the newer ones (my allowance allows for UK and international calls, UK and international texts, and almost all 08xx numbers, and also 3GB of data which costs me £17.64 a month).

I still upgrade when possible to the most desirable handset offered for free, and then sell the upgrade as a brand new handset as soon as I receive it while buying my iPhones either new from Apple or second hand but unlocked. My last iphone 4 cost me £270 boxed like new while I sold the free HTC Desire from T-Mobile for £220 when I upgraded.
 
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You telling me my job :D LOL

Dave1 said:
T-Mobile and 3 share transmission mast sites (and 3 have some micro sites not included in the mast share).
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It's not a mast share as such - Its a network consolidation - one big network managed and run by a company that is owned 50% by each company. That is unlike the O2/Voda project which is mast sharing.

Dave1 said:
T-Mobile and Orange actually have the shared network (both 2G and 3G) as they are now a merged company called Everything Everywhere.
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Yes pretty much - One companty owns both networks but as they consolidate that will change.

Dave1 said:
A T-Mobile or Orange customer can now use either network without restriction, and also have the benefit of the mast share with 3, making for very good coverage.
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As I said above the 3/TMo network isn't really a mast share. It's a network consolidation (a single whole network). Vodafone and O2 are doing the mast share exercise.

Also remember that if a 3 customer is outside the coverage of their 3G network that they will be able to use the Orange 2G network to make calls. I guess that will expand as the Orange and TMo 2G sites are more closely consolidated and as the Orange 3G sites are merged with the TMo/3 sites making it an even larger 3G network.
 
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posiview said:
It's because they aren't phones anymore...they are multi media devices.

My phone is a phone and cost me £15.00.

:D
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Yes, it is quite possible to buy a SIM only phone for less than £50 and spend a small amount on PAYG.
 
posiview said:
It's because they aren't phones anymore...they are multi media devices.

My phone is a phone and cost me £15.00.

:D
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Great point.
 
EOS_JD said:
You telling me my job :D LOL
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No, just trying to keep things accurate (I work for one of the networks under discussion) ;)

It's not a mast share as such - Its a network consolidation - one big network managed and run by a company that is owned 50% by each company. That is unlike the O2/Voda project which is mast sharing.
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Unless things have changed since we were given the info, it is only an infrastructure share, back haul to network is still seperate (and handled independently and seperately by Ericsson on behalf of the 2 networks). This quote is from the original announcement:
In December 2007, T-Mobile UK and 3UK announced an agreement to share their 3G networks.[7] T-Mobile and 3 described their plan to combine their radio access networks, making use of the so-called Multi Operator RAN (MO-RAN).[8] This technology enables operators to share all site equipment except TRXs, which must remain independent because the parties will not share spectrum.* Accordingly, each Node-B will have two sets of TRXs (one using T-Mobile’s frequencies and another one using 3’s frequencies). The parties will also share feeders, antennas, and other ancillary and transmission equipment, as well as the RNC.* According to the parties, the MO-RAN solution will enable them to retain responsibility for the delivery of services to their respective customers and to compete vigorously in the market.* Although antennas will be shared, T-Mobile and 3 will maintain enough flexibility to control their own radio optimization, allowing for coverage differentiation.* Moreover, even though the RNC also will be shared, the architecture developed by the equipment supplier reportedly allows for service differentiation.[9]
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Yes pretty much - One companty owns both networks but as they consolidate that will change.
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Not quite, the 2 networks are now owned by EE, EE is 50/50 owned between Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom. Integration is pretty much complete. There is only one major improvement still to come, which is basically "strongest signal first" and this should be implemented in the first half of the year. (means no matter which of the 2 sims T-Mob or Orange, the phone will log onto the strongest available signal while at present the phone still prioritises the old "home" network until the signal fails).

As I said above the 3/TMo network isn't really a mast share. It's a network consolidation (a single whole network). Vodafone and O2 are doing the mast share exercise.

Also remember that if a 3 customer is outside the coverage of their 3G network that they will be able to use the Orange 2G network to make calls. I guess that will expand as the Orange and TMo 2G sites are more closely consolidated and as the Orange 3G sites are merged with the TMo/3 sites making it an even larger 3G network.
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This is now in a draw down phase, 3 are removing the Orange 2G back up in areas where they consider their signal adequate (for financial reasons, they pay for their customers to roam onto the back up 2G).
 
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Depends where you look, one of the many Carphonewarehouse fronts (e2save) have/had the Galaxy Nexus free on £26p/m Orange contract with 750mb of data. yet Mobiles.co.uk (same place) charges £69.99 on the same plan.
 
Thanks for the tip on sites to look at, had looked on carphone warehouse, but not others.

The Galaxy nexus is £500 on amazon, so if I can drop down to £10 a month I can save money, but only after 18 months. Anyone seen it cheaper?

Do all phone companies allow tendering without additional charges?

As for companies, my wife has just left Orange as the signal is non existent at home and not the best when out. My dad is on three and imo its pretty useless. Overall for the travelling I do and signal at home, Vodafone is best.
 
Dave1 said:
No, just trying to keep things accurate (I work for one of the networks under discussion) ;)
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I was just jesting :)

Dave1 said:
Unless things have changed since we were given the info, it is only an infrastructure share, back haul to network is still seperate (and handled independently and seperately by Ericsson on behalf of the 2 networks). This quote is from the original announcement:
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Yes but infrastructure is much wider than a mast share. Infrastructure is all the kit. To be fair though I see your point and yes the back haul is still separate. A mast share is what O2 and Voda are doing. They are sharing the mast structure with 2 lots of kit and antennas and cabinets and all the equipment remains in the ownership of each. I'm surprised they've not followed the H3G/EE route.

Dave1 said:
Not quite, the 2 networks are now owned by EE, EE is 50/50 owned between Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom.
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I actually wasn't aware that was the case. I was under the impression DT had purchased Orange (at least the former TMO guys in my office always said that)!

Dave1 said:
Integration is pretty much complete.
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Yes the initial TMO/3 consolidation is close but the Orange site consolidation has not yet even been awarded to a preferred contractor as yet. I would imagine that to be a considerable project likely to keep the winners busy for a few years.

Dave1 said:
There is only one major improvement still to come, which is basically "strongest signal first" and this should be implemented in the first half of the year. (means no matter which of the 2 sims T-Mob or Orange, the phone will log onto the strongest available signal while at present the phone still prioritises the old "home" network until the signal fails).
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Yes I was discussing that one this morning with one of our Network planners (that is not my field)

Dave1 said:
This is now in a draw down phase, 3 are removing the Orange 2G back up in areas where they consider their signal adequate (for financial reasons, they pay for their customers to roam onto the back up 2G).
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Yes absolutely. I used to work for 3 and it was always a bone of contention the money spent on roaming although there will always be areas where 2G will be stronger until these sites gets the 3G added which I would imagine will form a part of the next phase of consolidation works.

Cheers
JD
 
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Just changed package with Vodafone and happy with the deal I got. Researched alternatives on the Internet, called them to discuss and got a good deal with a HTC Desire S which was what I wanted.

Like everything, do your homework, be polite when you call and explain what others have to offer. Always found they have been willing to work with me to sort what I would like.

Good luck!
 
neil_g said:
share the knowledge then, who is that with and what deal?
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This deal is on Three. I'm amazed at what some networks charge for 1gb/month on 30 day sim only contracts as 1gb is not much data if you are using an iphone. Orange for example have the cheek to charge £36 per month for 1gb. Ok they give more minutes but minutes are not that important to me as I have more important things to do than spend all day yakking on a mobile. ;)
 
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