If you just need a phone...
The use of the term ‘free' by the mobile phone industry has long been a source of annoyance for us. For most top-end smartphones, including the recently announced WP7 ones, you're looking at a minimum of a £35 per month, two year contract to get one for ‘free'. And the iPhone is, of course, even pricier.
Before you comment, yes we know you get a bunch of voice and data included in that, but it still often adds up to a grand over the life of the contract - something not everyone is either willing or able to pay.
So it's good to see some, albeit virtual, operators looking to capitalise on the market for people who primarily just need a mobile phone, and don't want to pay for all the extra bells and whistles.
Virgin Media has a range of phones that it offers for ‘free' on a £8.50, two year contract, which includes 100 minutes and 100 texts per month and the option of 25MB of daily data for 30p. It must be noted, however, that the costs of using these phones go up sharply once to exceed the limits defined by the tariff. You can see all the charges here.
The VNO has just announced the addition of five new handsets to this range, which are:
- Nokia X2 - music and Facebook
- Nokia 5230 - touchscreen and GPS + Ovi Maps
- Nokia 6700 Slide - web browsing + Ovi store
- Samsung Monte - social networking
- Samsung Tocco - 5MP camera
Nokia X2
Nokia 5230
Nokia 6700 Slide
Samsung Monte
Samsung Tocco
