Mobile Phone Tariffs

I'm going to have to get a new phone contract in a few months, so i thought i'd have a quick look at what's out there. Yes, this all changes rather fast, so doing it now (which, incidentally, is 2004-04-15) is pointless, but there you go.

Key: P/O peak/off-peak; X/N cross-network/on-network; p pence; u units (minutes of call time, messages of text, MB of GPRS data).

Network	Tariff	Price (p/mth)	Allowance (u)						Rates (p/u)						Notes
			PX	OX	PN	ON	Text	Data	PX	OX	PN	ON	Text	Data
T-Mobile	Everyone Off-Peak 200	1500	0	200	0	0	0	0	30	15	30	5	10	750	Free voicemail
T-Mobile	Everyone Off-Peak 500	2000	0	500	0	0	0	0	30	15	30	5	10	750	Free voicemail
Orange	Off-Peak Combination	2500	0	200	0	800	0	0	45	30	35	5	12	400	Itemised billing
Orange	1000 min OX [2004-09-14]	2500	0	1000	0	0	0	0	45	30	35	5	10	300	Itemised billing?
Orange	1000 min OX + 120 texts [2004-09-14]	3300	0	1000	0	0	120	0	45	30	35	5	10	300	Itemised billing?
O2	Online OffPeak 300	2000	0	300	0	0	500	0.5	45	30	30	2	10	235	500 min WAP
O2	Online OffPeak 500	2500	0	500	0	0	500	0.5	45	30	30	2	10	235	500 min WAP
Vodafone	Evening and Weekend 1000	2000	0	0	0	1000	0	0	40	40	29	5	12	750

There are also text and data bundles to consider.

Text bundles:

Network	Price (p/N.u)
	25	50	100	200	250	300	500	1000
T-Mobile		350	600	1000
Orange	200	400	800			2400			20% more texts than stated!
Vodafone		600	1200		3000		6000	12000	Covers GPRS too?

Data bundles:

Network	Price (p/N.u) [Rate (p/u)]
	0.5	3	6	7	10	15	20
T-Mobile	200 [750]	500 [300]	1000 [300]		1500 [300]		2500 [150]
Orange		400 [300]		800 [200]		1400 [150]

The best of the bunch is pretty obviously the O2 tariff (well, pair of tariffs). To bring the competitors up to the same level of provision as the OffPeak 300 tariff (which costs 2000 p), you'd have to add:

T-Mobile (Everyone Off-Peak 200): 100 min OX calls (1500 p), 500 msgs text (5000 p), 0.5 MB data (375 p) = 8375 p (and then you get cheaper X calls, more expensive N calls, more expensive data, no WAP, and cheaper voicemail)
Orange (Off-Peak Combination): 100 min OX calls (3000 p), 500 msgs text (6000 p), 0.5 MB data (200 p) = 11700 p (although you do get 800 min ON calls, but more expensive N calls, texts and data, and no WAP)
Vodafone (Evening and Weekend 1000): not even worth thinking about

The only case where the O2 tariff doesn't win is if you make a small call volume (in which case T-Mobile Everyone Off-Peak 200 wins) or make lots of on-network calls (in which case Orange Off-Peak Combination probably wins).

Phones presently free on the O2 500 tariff: Nokia 7250i, Nokia 3100 + cash, Nokia 3200, Motorola E365 + cash, Philips 535 + casg, Sony Ericsson T610

[2004-9-14] Phones free on the Orange 1000+120 tariff: Handspring Treo 600, LG1100, Motorola V220, Motorola V500, Motorola V600, Nokia 3510i, Nokia 5140, Nokia 6230, Nokia 6600, Nokia 6610i, Orange SPV C500, Orange SPV E200, Panasonic X70, Sagem myX-7, Samsung E700, Samsung E800, Sony Ericsson K700i, Sony Ericsson T610.

[2004-09-17] Phones free on the O2 Online OffPeak 500 tariff: Siemens CX65 + flights, Siemens M65 + flights, Siemens SL55 + flights, Motorola V600, Samsung E600, O2 X3, O2 X2 + fridge, Nokia 6230, Nokia 6610i + cash, Samsung P510, Sony Ericsson K700i, Sony Ericsson T630, Samsung E800, O2 X1i, Samsung E700, Sony Ericsson Z600, Nokia 6600, Sony Ericsson T610

Manufacturer	Model	Form Factor	Size (mm)	Mass (g)	Talk Time (h)	Bands	Screen	Camera	Bluetooth?	GPRS Class	Java?	Comments
LG	L1100	Clamshell	89.0x46.5x23.6	99	2.5	3	128x160x16 + 96x64x1	640x480	X	10	/
Motorola	V600	Clamshell	88.0x48.0x24.0	115	5	4	176x220x16 + 96x32x1	640x480	/	10	/	USB
Panasonic	X70	Clamshell	87.0x47.0x24.0	95	5	3	132x176x16 + 96x28x1	352x288 + flash	/	8	X	No IR
Samsung	E800	Slide	87.0x44.0x23.5	86	4.5	2	128x160x16	640x480 + flash	X	10	/
Samsung	P510	Clamshell	84.0x45.0x23.5	92	5	2	128x160x16 + 98x48x4	640x480 + flash, video	X	10	/
Sony Ericsson	K700i	Block	99.0x46.0x19.0	93	7	3	176x220x16	640x480 + flash; video	/	10	/	FM radio, MP3 player
Sony Ericsson	Z600	Clamshell	90.0x48.0x28.0	110	6	3	128x160x16 + ?	352x288	/	8?	/
O2	X3	Clamshell	81.0x42.0x26.0	93	3	3	128x160x18 (?) + ?x?x14	1.3 MPx + flash; video	X	10	/	USB, SD, MP3 player

It's got to be the V600 or the X3, really. Why the hell did they put such a lame screen on the X3?