Budget mobile phone companies versus the main ones?
Discussion
Whats the catch?
Giff Gaff for example, owned by Telefonica who also own o2. £12 with Giff Gaff gets you 20GB data, £12 with o2 gets you 1GB data.
£12.50 with Tesco ("powered by o2") gets you 30GB data, and as above £12 with o2 gets you 1GB.
£9 a month with plusnet gets you 20GB data (EE/BT Mobile's network), direct with EE 1GB data is £14
£11 a month with vodafone gets you 1GB, £10 with asda mobile (powered by vodafone) gets you 10GB.
Pro's for the budgets i can see are much cheaper and generally rolling contract's or shorter contract commitments.
Con's i'd imagine are customer service might be poor but other than that what else? Will signal quality and speeds be throttled on the budget ones? Surely speed and signal with Giff Gaff for example won't be the same as going to o2 direct? If so why are people still going with the big boys and not the smaller companies?
Giff Gaff for example, owned by Telefonica who also own o2. £12 with Giff Gaff gets you 20GB data, £12 with o2 gets you 1GB data.
£12.50 with Tesco ("powered by o2") gets you 30GB data, and as above £12 with o2 gets you 1GB.
£9 a month with plusnet gets you 20GB data (EE/BT Mobile's network), direct with EE 1GB data is £14
£11 a month with vodafone gets you 1GB, £10 with asda mobile (powered by vodafone) gets you 10GB.
Pro's for the budgets i can see are much cheaper and generally rolling contract's or shorter contract commitments.
Con's i'd imagine are customer service might be poor but other than that what else? Will signal quality and speeds be throttled on the budget ones? Surely speed and signal with Giff Gaff for example won't be the same as going to o2 direct? If so why are people still going with the big boys and not the smaller companies?
There is no catch, I am with Lebara who piggy back off the Vodafone network and they have been excellent, never had a single problem. Lebara do 10GB for £10 a month, but this is half price for the first six months now.
I think the biggest issue for these providers is people hear "Lebara" and instantly pull a funny face and go "oh no" without having a clue they are using the Vodafone network.
As a counter argument, my daughter had an O2 contract which was coming to an end so I wanted to swap to a PAYG deal. After calling them they offered me 10GB for £10 a month so for lack of hassle I went for that. The other benefit of not being on a contract is I never have to call them ever again!
I think the biggest issue for these providers is people hear "Lebara" and instantly pull a funny face and go "oh no" without having a clue they are using the Vodafone network.
As a counter argument, my daughter had an O2 contract which was coming to an end so I wanted to swap to a PAYG deal. After calling them they offered me 10GB for £10 a month so for lack of hassle I went for that. The other benefit of not being on a contract is I never have to call them ever again!
I'd assume that the big, primary companies (voda, O2 etc) have got oodles of data bandwidth going spare. They could either sell that cheaply to Joe public - but in doing so take part in that "race to the bottom", thereby diminishing returns for their core customer business and drive all competitor prices down to a minimum, or they can sell it off wholesale to resellers who then sell it to Joe Public for cheaper.
It keeps the main providers in control of their pricing whilst bringing in extra cash, and us punters get the benefit of all of that at the same time.
It keeps the main providers in control of their pricing whilst bringing in extra cash, and us punters get the benefit of all of that at the same time.
I've been with Giffgaff for many years not had any issues that even needed contacting customer service and the majority of issues/help is via their own forum rather than a helpline which a main provider would have.
Speed and service has been fine for me but guess it depends on your location.
Even if they do throttle data at a certain point I don't think I've ever used that much mobile data to find out as I'm connected to wi-fi more often.
Out and about ive streamed footie/films on sky go with no issues.
I can't speak for other piggyback networks but I wouldn't have any issues recommending one over a main provider.
My speed on Giffgaff outside is
Speed and service has been fine for me but guess it depends on your location.
Even if they do throttle data at a certain point I don't think I've ever used that much mobile data to find out as I'm connected to wi-fi more often.
Out and about ive streamed footie/films on sky go with no issues.
I can't speak for other piggyback networks but I wouldn't have any issues recommending one over a main provider.
My speed on Giffgaff outside is
ThunderSpook said:
Generally perks like WiFi calling is reserved for customers of the main networks.
My parents insisted on going with supermarket phone 'networks'. Lack of support for wifi calling is annoying as where they live the reception is poor. Also twice now the supermarket has changed their underlying provider resulting in the need for a SIM-change. All of these resulted in protracted phone calls to me as I tried to talk them through the process..gus607 said:
I'm with Three & pay £10 per month for U/L mins & texts with 12gb data, 5G too.
Not worth shopping around at that price.
Blimey. I need to review my contract!Not worth shopping around at that price.
I'm with Vodafone Business on a SIM-only business contract, and pay £18.69 (including VAT, which I then claim back. So £15.57) and get unlimited calls & texts, and 8GB of data (+500MB International data roaming).
It seemed like a good deal at the time.
5G is included although I don't think I have ever been near a 5G mast. Also Wi-Fi calling is included, only doesn't work with my OnePlus Nord.
I'd avoid Three, dreadful, dreadful customer service. I suspect Tesco probably has the best support of the main ones.
I used to own an MVNO - we were treated as second class citizens by the networks. The nature of my business meant that we never needed advanced services (like data) so I've no feel for how that got rolled out.
Simon.
I used to own an MVNO - we were treated as second class citizens by the networks. The nature of my business meant that we never needed advanced services (like data) so I've no feel for how that got rolled out.
Simon.
Thanks for the replies guys.
I'm with 3 just now - while the price is good I find the signal pretty poor. Great in cities but venture out and its a struggle. Sometimes my missus is getting 4G with o2 and i can barely make a text when on holiday in more rural places.
With regards to wifi calling, even in the cheaper network didn't offer this i'm assuming i can still call via WhatsApp, or is that blocked?
I'm with 3 just now - while the price is good I find the signal pretty poor. Great in cities but venture out and its a struggle. Sometimes my missus is getting 4G with o2 and i can barely make a text when on holiday in more rural places.
With regards to wifi calling, even in the cheaper network didn't offer this i'm assuming i can still call via WhatsApp, or is that blocked?
Oh, I forgot to mention that my phone is dual SIM so I have Vodafone Business as my main SIM and a Tesco PAYG on the other. I chose that Tesco SIM years ago as it was one of the few PAYG where you don't lose your credit after a while. I think I last topped it up a decade ago. 
Given that we have two different mobile frequencies in the UK, and no roaming between them, I deliberately chose the Tesco one as it was on a different frequency to Vodafone, and it's interesting to see the two signal bars fluctuate differently.
In some places I can literally have no signal on my Vodafone SIM and decent bars on the Tesco SIM. And in other places, vice versa.
Until we have proper network roaming between the two frequencies, I think I will always make sure I have a dual SIM phone with a SIM on each frequency.
Given that we have two different mobile frequencies in the UK, and no roaming between them, I deliberately chose the Tesco one as it was on a different frequency to Vodafone, and it's interesting to see the two signal bars fluctuate differently.
In some places I can literally have no signal on my Vodafone SIM and decent bars on the Tesco SIM. And in other places, vice versa.
Until we have proper network roaming between the two frequencies, I think I will always make sure I have a dual SIM phone with a SIM on each frequency.
xeny said:
A friend gave up with Smarty due to terrible data performance in London.
I was with Smarty for ages and recommended them! was paying £18 for unlimited everything, got annoyed though when they introduced wifi calling but didn't support Pixel devices. I then moved houses and had no signal at all, needed wifi calling to work, scooped a deal on Three £16 which includes working wifi calling and nicely London underground wifi.
Have since got a 5G phone as well, got to say the signal in London seems to be better on Three than Smarty (even though Smarty are owned by Three)
sbarclay62 said:
Thanks for the replies guys.
I'm with 3 just now - while the price is good I find the signal pretty poor. Great in cities but venture out and its a struggle. Sometimes my missus is getting 4G with o2 and i can barely make a text when on holiday in more rural places.
With regards to wifi calling, even in the cheaper network didn't offer this i'm assuming i can still call via WhatsApp, or is that blocked?
We live very rural and indoors wifi calling is a must.I'm with 3 just now - while the price is good I find the signal pretty poor. Great in cities but venture out and its a struggle. Sometimes my missus is getting 4G with o2 and i can barely make a text when on holiday in more rural places.
With regards to wifi calling, even in the cheaper network didn't offer this i'm assuming i can still call via WhatsApp, or is that blocked?
I was on 3, the wife O2. We are both now with 3 as it was better coverage outdoors and 3 wifi calling also does SMS, O2 doesn't.
I'm with GiffGaff and pay £10 per month for 15gb data and unlimited calls and texts, been with them 2 years now, I may get more data elsewhere but 15Gb is more than enough for me.
I recently went on a road trip to Europe crossing France, Belgium, Germany and Netherlands and it was faultless all the way through swapping automatically between countries without me noticing while I was streaming music from my phone across O2's European networks so for me it's great and I see no reason to swap away.
I have to buy my own handsets now but I use them until they break and then I buy a 12 month old used model as a rule, I'm not fussed for getting into contracts for the latest and greatest, also convinced the Mrs to do the same now
I recently went on a road trip to Europe crossing France, Belgium, Germany and Netherlands and it was faultless all the way through swapping automatically between countries without me noticing while I was streaming music from my phone across O2's European networks so for me it's great and I see no reason to swap away.
I have to buy my own handsets now but I use them until they break and then I buy a 12 month old used model as a rule, I'm not fussed for getting into contracts for the latest and greatest, also convinced the Mrs to do the same now
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't find O2 expensive. I'm currently paying £18.95 / month for unlimited calls, unlimited texts, 150GB data. When I took the deal they also bundled a 'free' extra - I took the international option that I've always paid for due to numerous relatives living in other countries - so basically cut price international calling.
When I'm working away from home I use a lot of data, so the 150GB plan makes sense. I don't think this is an unreasonable price for the amount I'm using?
When I'm working away from home I use a lot of data, so the 150GB plan makes sense. I don't think this is an unreasonable price for the amount I'm using?
After 20 years on Vodafone mainly on unlimited contracts I swapped to voxi recently. 12 quid a month - unlimited calls and texts and 12gb plus endless social media and video streaming. Meaning socal media and steaming doesn't come out of the 12gb.
No difference in performance and so cheap. You don't need to piss about topping up they just take 12 quid a month. Should have done it years ago.
No difference in performance and so cheap. You don't need to piss about topping up they just take 12 quid a month. Should have done it years ago.
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