PrePaidGSM.net Forum (Archived) - View Single Post - Price increases all around for UK prepaid

petkow · 18-11-2010, 16:16

Though they are no longer as good value as they have been in the past, there are all sorts of offers still available on prepaids in the UK. I believe the smart-step billing (x p/min for first so many minutes, and then y p/min thereafter) is still available on some networks. (perhaps o2). There is quite a useful comparison page listing all UK prepaid offers at the moment:
PAYG Tariffs

When discussing UK prepaid rates, it is important to look beyond just the price per minute as it is also worth noting that unlike prepaids in other parts of the world (where you basically get what you pay for), most UK prepaid SIMs also give users additional bonuses just for making a topup. These are nice, as the credit that you have topped up with still stays in place, as the bonus does not 'cost' up any credit. The bonuses can be used for several things such as free texts, free calls to landlines, and some which give you international calls. These ones are possibly of most interest to tourists and I have detailed them below:

1. O2 has a tariff called "Your Country" which provides 200 minutes of free international calls if a customer makes a £30 top-up during a single month. It also provides 10p international SMS. Fewer minutes are given away with smaller topups... see below).

Monthly top up,Credit given,Free minutes
£10 £10 50
£15 £15 100
£30 £30 200
See: http://www.o2.co.uk/yourcountry

2. T-Mobile has a tariff that gives you £10 of extra credit that can be used for making international calls only on weekends (upto 200mins depending on destination), if a customer top-ups with £10 during the previous week.
See: http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/free-...nal-sim-cards/

3. Orange offers a tariff called Camel which provides 240 minutes of free international calls if a customer makes a £30 top-up in a month. (and 60 with a £10 topup, and 120 with a £20 topup)
See: http://www1.orange.co.uk/service_pla...mel_costs.html

Apart from other international calling packages provided by the networks themselves, I think one of the better offers is to use a shortcode from YourCallWorld (or some other company like that) and make international calls starting at 3p/min. These can also be used to make calls to the UK (via a foreign gateway) for cheaper than the rates offered by the network directly. Mind you, these short codes only work on Orange, 3 or T-Mobile prepaid SIM cards.

If you are interested in a dedicated package for higher levels of international calling then o2 easily tops the list. I do not know if I have mentioned it before here yet, but "o2 International Favourites" gives its users (including prepaid users) a full 50hours (3000 minutes) to three chosen international landline numbers. This option costs just £10 and is valid for one month at a time. (It can be paid for out of prepaid credit). In addition for £20 per month, customers will get 3,000 landline minutes and 200 mobile minutes to five international numbers. However, it is worth noting that calls to mobiles in some countries are classed as landlines. (e.g. USA, Canada, India, China, Hong Kong)

The deal covers calls to 60 countries. Also nice is that they provide you with an incoming number in your country of choice (45 countries covered I believe). This is good for your contacts to be able to call you at local rates.

	(#2)
petkow (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Pioneer Posts: 696 Join Date: 01 Aug 2006 Location: Madrid Country:	18-11-2010, 16:16 Though they are no longer as good value as they have been in the past, there are all sorts of offers still available on prepaids in the UK. I believe the smart-step billing (x p/min for first so many minutes, and then y p/min thereafter) is still available on some networks. (perhaps o2). There is quite a useful comparison page listing all UK prepaid offers at the moment: PAYG Tariffs When discussing UK prepaid rates, it is important to look beyond just the price per minute as it is also worth noting that unlike prepaids in other parts of the world (where you basically get what you pay for), most UK prepaid SIMs also give users additional bonuses just for making a topup. These are nice, as the credit that you have topped up with still stays in place, as the bonus does not 'cost' up any credit. The bonuses can be used for several things such as free texts, free calls to landlines, and some which give you international calls. These ones are possibly of most interest to tourists and I have detailed them below: 1. O2 has a tariff called "Your Country" which provides 200 minutes of free international calls if a customer makes a £30 top-up during a single month. It also provides 10p international SMS. Fewer minutes are given away with smaller topups... see below). Monthly top up,Credit given,Free minutes £10 £10 50 £15 £15 100 £30 £30 200 See: http://www.o2.co.uk/yourcountry 2. T-Mobile has a tariff that gives you £10 of extra credit that can be used for making international calls only on weekends (upto 200mins depending on destination), if a customer top-ups with £10 during the previous week. See: http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/free-...nal-sim-cards/ 3. Orange offers a tariff called Camel which provides 240 minutes of free international calls if a customer makes a £30 top-up in a month. (and 60 with a £10 topup, and 120 with a £20 topup) See: http://www1.orange.co.uk/service_pla...mel_costs.html Apart from other international calling packages provided by the networks themselves, I think one of the better offers is to use a shortcode from YourCallWorld (or some other company like that) and make international calls starting at 3p/min. These can also be used to make calls to the UK (via a foreign gateway) for cheaper than the rates offered by the network directly. Mind you, these short codes only work on Orange, 3 or T-Mobile prepaid SIM cards. If you are interested in a dedicated package for higher levels of international calling then o2 easily tops the list. I do not know if I have mentioned it before here yet, but "o2 International Favourites" gives its users (including prepaid users) a full 50hours (3000 minutes) to three chosen international landline numbers. This option costs just £10 and is valid for one month at a time. (It can be paid for out of prepaid credit). In addition for £20 per month, customers will get 3,000 landline minutes and 200 mobile minutes to five international numbers. However, it is worth noting that calls to mobiles in some countries are classed as landlines. (e.g. USA, Canada, India, China, Hong Kong) The deal covers calls to 60 countries. Also nice is that they provide you with an incoming number in your country of choice (45 countries covered I believe). This is good for your contacts to be able to call you at local rates. Last edited by petkow; 18-11-2010 at 16:54..