A Guide to Choosing your Network [PAYG/UK]

[hamheyelliot]

Hey there; there are many Pay as you go Mobile Operators in the UK, and not just the big 5. Some have cheaper Tariffs, while others have Add Ons and Extras. There are also some new International Providers that let you make cheap international calls or texts!

Here is your guide to choosing the one for you;

Orange;
Flat Rate:
20p to UK Mobiles and Landlines
10p for a Text
Extras: 2 for 1 Cinema Tickets on Wednesday; Book Tickets for your favourite Gigs before anyone else; Reserve Tank- Extra Calltime when you're out of credit.
PAYG Plans:
Dolphin- Free Texts and Facebook, Bebo or MySpace Mobile Access.
Canary- Free Weekend and Evening Calls (Up to 240 Minutes)
Racoon- No Extras, just a cheaper Flat Rate of 15p Calls and 10p Texts.
Camel- Cheaper International Calls.
(Dolphin and Canary require a minimum of £10 to be topped up each month)
Other: Unlimited Internet Access: £1 a day, £5 a week. Calls to numbers like 0800 are charged at 25p-35p.
Increasingly popular, good coverage.
Choosing Orange? Get a free SIM.

O2;
O2 were tricky in the making of this guide, but here goes.
Flat Rate:
When on Most O2 Special Tariffs:
25p for the first 3 minutes, then 5p a minute after that
25p all the time for other UK Networks
10p Texts
When on O2 Original: (Not recommended!)
35p for Calls in the Daytime
10p for Evening and Weekends
20p for Calls to other O2 Mobiles in the Daytime
10p for Evening and Weekends to O2 Mobiles
50p for Calls to other UK Networks in the Daytime
30p for Calls to other UK Networks in the Evening
12p for Texts
Extras: 10% of your Top-Ups back with O2 Rewards, Little Surprises every month with O2 Treats, A Range of 'Bolt Ons' for things like Internet Browsing.
PAYG Plans:(all require Monthly Top Ups to activate)
Favourite Place- Free Minutes to Landlines or O2 Mobiles from a certain postcode.
Talkalotmore- General Free Minutes
TextAnytime- General Free Texts
O2 Unlimited- Unlimited Texts or Calls to O2 Mobiles
YourCountry- General Free International CallsOther: Calls to numbers like 0800 are charged at 15p-35p.
Looking impressive, good coverage.
Choosing O2? Get a free SIM.

T-Mobile;
Flat Rate:
20p a minute for the first 2 minutes of the day
10p a minute after that
10p a text
PAYG Plans:
T-Mobile Pay As You Go- Top up £10 during the week, and get £10 for use during the weekend.
Extras: Rewards like Texts, Calls or Internet Browsing when you top up. Boosters to be used for International Calling or Calls and Texts. £1 Maximum Charge for browsing the web each day.
Other: Calls to numbers like 0800 are charged at FREE-£2.50
A Simple Network to choose, Amazing Coverage.
Choosing T-Mobile? Get a free SIM.

Vodafone;
Flat Rate:
20p Calls, all the time10p a textPAYG Plans:
Text Unlimited- Top up £5 and get unlimited weekday evening Texts through the week, and Top up a total of £10 in the week and get unlimited Texts at the Weekend too.
Free Weekends- Top and and spend £5 to get free Calls and Texts all weekend.
Extras:
There are no further rewards on this network, other than those that come with the plans.
Other: Calls to numbers like 0800 are charged at 20p. £1 Maximum Charge for browsing the web each day.
Good packages, excellent coverage.
Choosing Vodafone? Get a free SIM.

Virgin Mobile;
When on standard rate:
15p calls for the first 5 minutes each day5p calls every minute after40p calls to other UK networks3p texts to Virgin Mobile users
12p texts to other UK networks
When on Daily Bonus:
15p calls for the first 5 minutes each day(all networks)Then Minutes 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are free
15p calls after that5p texts to Virgin Mobile users
10p texts to other UK networksTexts 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are free, then back to usual.
PAYG Plans:
Daily Bonus- The rates for this tariff are above; you get texts 6-10 and call minutes 6-10 every day for free. Calls and Texts to other UK Mobiles are much cheaper than the usual tariff, but you sacrifice cheaper calls to Landlines and Virgin users after the first 5 minutes.
Extras: Bundles of Texts and Minutes and Picture Messages can be bought to work out cheaper than usual.
Other: Calls to numbers like 0800 are charged at 10p. Web access is 35p a day, but if you go over 35MB, you will be charged £2 per MB.
Good coverage, quite popular in teens.
What's this? Virgin are not currently handing out free SIMs. You can get them in local shops.

3/Three/Hutchinson;
Flat Rate:
12p a minute calls to any UK Network or Landline
12p Texts
Free Skype, with any Skype enabled phone
PAYG Plans:
Flat12- Pretty much everything is charged at 12p
Stretch on Flat12- Convert your Top Up directly into an Extra for cheaper Minutes and Texts in general
Extras: Add-ons with Texts, Minutes, Browsing and Mobile TV. Internet access is 50p Daily, £2.50 Weekly, £5 Monthly.
Other: Calls to numbers like 0800 are charged at 15p.Skype is free on the 3 Network, unlike others.
Remember, 3 has been renowned to lack great coverage, but they're doing well.
What's this? Three are not currently handing out free SIMs. You can get them in local shops, or £9.99 on the 3 Website, which comes with a £10 Top Up.

Tesco Mobile;
Flat Rate:
20p Calls to everyone
10p Texts to everyonePAYG Plans:
Tesco Mobile Pay as you go- You get amazing amounts of extra credit when you top up over £10, you get £20 in total for a £10 top up, £45 in total for a £15 top up and £60 for a £30 top up. Very good value.
Half price calls to your 5 favourite numbers.
Choosing Tesco Mobile? Get a free SIM.

ASDA Mobile;
Flat Rate:
8p Calls to everyone4p Texts to everyonePAYG Plans:
Asda Mobile Pay as you go- Asda offers nothing more than a very cheap tariff, no extras or features.
ASDA Mobile SIMs can be found in your local ASDA store near checkout for only 49p

Other Networks and International Networks

Nomi Mobile;
Rates and Packages are to be found on the website. [link]
Comment: Good UK and Intl. Rates, good as an alternate network!

LycaMobile;
Rates and Packages are to be found on the website. [link]
Comment: Good for Extra Top-Up offers they have.

Lebara Mobile;
Rates and Packages are to be found on the website. [link]
Comment: Not half bad! Extra credit when you top up.

Don't forget to check out:

Blyk;
Blyk is something quite special:
If you are 16-24 years old, you can get 217 Texts and 43 Minutes for free every month! In return for free minutes, Blyk will send you Mobile Advertising each day to your phone via MMS, these ads are usually tailored to brands you like, and aren't spam.

Blyk is a great alternative to paying for use of your phone, and uses the Orange network to provide the calls and texts. Check it out!

[link]


I really hope you find my guide useful, please leave any comments or things to be edited, and any other networks you use!

[Adam!]

Nice - But I prefer my contract, £25 a month, 700 anytime minutes to any network and unlimited texts

[hamheyelliot]

Hehe, just a help for Pay as you go I guess.
I might end up writing a Contract guide, but I've no idea seeing I've never been tied to one.

[Tim.]

Nice guide,

I use pay as you go as i usually receive calls rather than ring other people up. May proove handy in the future as i'm planning on changing networks

+rep (when i can)

[hamheyelliot]

Thanks a lot
A personal recommendation is probably Tesco, Nomi or Blyk.

[flatface]

Good guide, I might move back to o2 thanks +rep

[kurtis5561]

Don't write one on contract as they are so many of them.

Plus you need to tweak the guide a bit, Orange and Vodafone have at least 8 different PAYG price plans each with different benefits, o2 have 6. Whats customer care like?

Plus each orange/vodafone pay as you go plan has different rates for calls.

Nice try thought

[Dentafrice]

Could ya do one for the USA please. k.

[awelsh]

Found a mistake.

Virgin Mobile;
When on standard rate:
15p calls for the first 5 minutes each day
5p calls every minute after
40p calls to other UK networks
3p texts to Virgin Mobile users
12p texts to other UK networks

Its 10p texts to other networks whatever tariff your on, and 5p to text other virgin mobiles whatever tariff your on.

[hamheyelliot]

I've covered Orange well I believe, as only Racoon has a different rate to the Flat Rate, which I've pointed out. Vodafone has some little plans which aren't really great enough to focus on. I've pointed out how Virgin has Add Ons, please do read carefully.
All the information is correct prior to the official providers networks, Virgin has given me the information stated.

I absolutely cannot do a USA one, Verizon and Sprint are all mad pplz k.

Also, I know who you are -repping me with 1 rep power, not leaving your name, and saying i've not looked at the Animal Packages, because I have. I know who you are, so get a life.