Tariffs archives

A happy new year to all our readers, we trust you had a fantastic Christmas. We got a little festive ourselves, but we’re over it now don’t worry.




A quick summary of some of the interesting recent goings on, starting with an INQ Chat 3G review by Mobile Choice UK. A positive experience overall with usability and social networking integration especially good, the processor and camera areas stated as needing improvements.

“Verdict: The INQ Chat 3G achieves all it sets out to. An excellent ‘affordable’ social networking phone that could just do with a little extra oomph”

Something for the Android and Google fans, as reported by Engadget there will be a press conference held this morning in California where the Nexus One is rumoured to be the focus. The Nexus One will only be available in the States to start with, but will be available unlocked, how about this as the perfect accompanying SIM for anyone thinking of importing one? Check out the Twitter buzz on Nexus One here.




The BBC and IntoMobile have reported on a small increase in the number of UK drivers who talk on the phone whilst driving. Personally something I’ve never done, why would you need to when there is such a range of Bluetooth headsets available?



Slightly older news, but maybe you missed it, 3 now support the UK Twitter 86444 shortcode, more info and set up details can be found on Twitter.



What is the most interesting piece of mobile related news you heard over the holiday period?

3 have snapped up the Sony Ericsson Satio, a phone that packs a whopping 12 megapixel camera.

Not only that, but this top-end handset also has a full touch screen, a range of multimedia playback options, and full HTML internet browsing capabilities.

Yourserbase has a thorough set of video reviews of the handset. You can check out the first instalment here.

Continue reading…

3UK has launched 3 Free Agents, a programme that asks consumers to give free 3 PAYG SIMs to their friends and colleagues alike, with a cash incentive of £5 paid into a paypal account when a friend uses their SIM in a 3G handset and tops-up. The new SIM card holder also receives £2 extra credit.

The initiative encourages the ‘Agents’ to use their social networking presences as Ash Roots, head of online at 3 states,

“There is nothing new in giving away free SIMs as SIM only is a growing section of the PAYG market. But 3 Free Agents is the first UK initiative available now that rewards customers with cold hard cash for promoting and distributing SIMs using the internet.”

Numerous sites have posted about the project; the Guardian tweeted towards their article, with other news sites Mobile News and MarketingMagazine featuring the initiative. Pocket-Lint has more from Ash, GoMo divulges all the details around the tariffs involved and The Register has been quick to put it alongside O2’s giffgaff to see how it fares.

If this isn’t enough, 3g.co.uk, iXplora, Money Saving Woman and Mobile Choice have also all posted on it. And, should you want to get involved with the 3 Free Agent scheme you can do so here!

UKGadgeteer updated yesterday on 3UK and the news of price changes and the launch of Mobile WiFi.

Firstly the prices changes – 6 month contracts are out although there is still the SIM-only rolling 1 month contract. What this means is that, “people now have to commit for a longer contract, or choose the 1 month contract and potentially […] buy a 3UK PAYG phone and pay an upfront charge.”

UKGadgeteer doesn’t believe this a big issue stating that with a selection of cheap PAYG handsets there is more choice and it allows the consumer to switch phones more often, an increasing trend. The other alterations are that the Nokia E71 will no longer be available on the £20 Texter tariff; changes that UKGadgeteer suggests make way for the INQ Chat, details through the link.

And as for Mobile WiFi, the site lists costs and details believing the device looks like, “a good improvement over the original D100 Router, and should sell well; in fact, it may even become more popular than a standard USB Modem given the additional flexibility it offers (e.g. the ability to connect devices such as the iPod Touch to the internet too whilst travelling).”

In a move that Omio describes as a “stark contrast” to other networks, 3 have done away with their 12 month pay monthly offerings and switched to 6 month tariffs instead.

Omio’s Ernest Doku gives the details, “The 6 month contracts are available on 3’s Mix and Match 300 and 500 packages, which offers sign-ups a flexible combination of free any network minutes and texts, varying based on usage. Both offer a free handset on deals from £15 and £18 per month respectively, and are already on the site alongside the existing 18 and 24 month contracts.”

All the details including the handsets available are here, which is a point of debate for Ernest who believes the new generation of INQ phones - the Chat and Mini - may be worth the wait and therefore keep people away. What do you think? Let Ernest know.

Money Saving Expert contributor Matt.D has alerted the community to a deal from 3 on the E71, “Three (3) Mobile have an offer on the Nokia E71 until this Friday (31st July 2009) which costs £20pm (less 2.5% VAT relief) and gives you the following…”

The ‘following’ includes the handset, 200 anytime any network minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited email, unlimited internet, 300 3 to 3 calls and unlimited Skype. There are a couple of caveats on some of these, which Matt.D explains in his post. To get all these details head to the MSE thread.

The 3mobilebuzz newshounds have noticed that Vodafone are currently pushing their current offer of free Facebook access for users for this week. Just a week?!

Like Skype, and Windows Live Messenger, Facebook is of course free to access for all 3 users all the time. No time limits, nothing for you to worry about. If you haven’t logged on in a while, you might just like to indulge in a bit of mobile poking. You never know, you might find you quite like it…

Alex Kinch, contributor to Mobile Industry Review and the man behind AlexKinch.com has made a comparison between 3 and Vodafone’s roaming data cost cuts.

Although stating that for a heavy user 3 comes out more expensive per MB, it is the simplicity that Alex appreciates, especially after taking four paragraphs to explain Vodafone’s tariff, “Cue 3 and their new charges. £1.25 per MB - no minimums, no bundles, no 24 hour windows and no differentiation between your phone or a dongle. A pricing model so simple that it takes one sentence to explain…”

Are you all for the simple life? Let Alex know.

Gummby of HotUkDeals has posted on being able to get the N97 on 3 for £15 when you pay up front for the handset with the Texter tariff.

It appears to have been well received by his fellow forum members with rash suggesting that it’s “not a bad deal, not bad at all!!!” and baldude adding, “for this price and these many mins its a PRETTY HOT deal.”

To take in the full three pages and join in the conversation around this offer click through.

3 have sliced 25% of the price of their Mix & Match 700 tariff.

The 3 Contracts Blog has all the details of this latest offering that is restricted to three handsets - the Nokia 6120, the Skypephone S2 and the Sony Ericsson C510.

Details, including what the Mix & Match 700 gets you, through here.

A quick update from UKGadgeteer who has taken note of 3 reducing some of their PAYG prices,

“A PAYG Mobile Broadband Dongle is now £19.99
Taking the 1 month at a time contract, the dongle now just costs £9.99 upfront
The Mobile Broadband Starter Kit loaded with 3GB of data is now £39.99”

They believe these are all worth considering if you’re an occasional Mobile Broadband user…

The device of the moment, the Nokia N97, is available to pre-order from 3 now and will be on sale in-store and online from the 26th June - a fact that has delighted Ewan over at mobileindustryreview.com!

3 are the only network to allow unobstructed access to Skype as detailed in the media alert below, along with some other N97 goodness,

“Announcing itself as the world’s most advanced mobile computer, the N97 isn’t afraid to make big shouts, and now it has arrived. 3 is the first operator to embrace free Skype-to-Skype calling and IM on the phone via the Skype on 3 application. As with all of 3’s Skype-enabled phones, making Skype-to-Skype calls on N97s using this application in the UK won’t cost consumers a penny.”

Pricing will see the N97 at £35 a month on a contract with voicemail and 300minutes/texts. Don’t want to commit to a contract? The PAYG option has the handset priced at £319.99 with top ups giving you 90 days of free voicemail, text bundles and 150mb of internet use. Both options will give you unlimited WLM and, of course, Skype-to-Skype calls and IM. A deal that Ewan suggests is “pretty good considering it’s a premium handset”

If you’ve been waiting for one or just had your appetite whetted the N97 in black is available for pre-order at the 3 store.

When it came to speculating on the pricing of the N97 on 3, UKGadgeteer wasn’t too far off.

They go through the variations across the Mix ‘n’ Match and Texter options giving you an overview of what to expect. They also discuss the main difference between the two of paying up front prices for the handset on the Texter variations, “So, the information we gained last week was generally correct; you can get the Nokia N97 for £100 on a £35 per month contract, or pay £200 for a £15 per month contract, but these are all Texter plans, not the more common Mix’n’Match tariffs.”

Head over if you’re yet to pre-order a N97 and check their thoughts.

Jen of Jen’s beauty blog has taken a break from her usual content and decided to share her thoughts after picking up a free 3 SIM.

She was struggling with decent internet access at work so decided to try one of 3’s free SIMs, “I had an old 3G phone which I have put my new SIM into. [...] I only started using mine on Friday but already I am in love. I can Tweet on the go now which is great.”

Taking full advantage of the free 150mb 90 day internet allowance seems to be working out well for Jane. Have you tried this out? Let her know here.

“Is it only me who doesn’t really mind 3? They seem to get a rotten press on here” says bellville1 on Digital Spy – beginning an interesting discussion on the recent announcement that 3 are offering free sim cards.

Commenting on the sim benefits, DXRulz says “I’m loving the free internet and texts (with every top-up) and also the free windows live and Skype as well. Where else can you find all that?” Thinewonk agrees “I love 3. I have been on the service since the start and it’s got better over time. They always answer your calls straight away, the deals are fairly good and I pay a lot less than my friends on mobile phone bills.”

WoodsMonk is a touch worried about 150MB web browsing limit, but he is reassured by Mr Cable that “browsing on a handset - that’s a fair amount”. Join the discussion over here.