Help me choose network & package

Trojan

Hi folks,

I've been doing some investigations into my phone spend and I'm hoping you folks can help me out a bit. I'm looking for recommendations on choosing a network and package. I'll give a bit of background, then ask my questions.

I'm currently out of contract (about 10 months now) on o2 bill pay. My total spend for the last 14 months has been €1,670 (averaging to €120 per month - exact details at end of post). I'm a business owner, so my phone is vital to me - but so is reducing costs

I have a Silver upgrade available with o2, which I think is a bit lame. They've been calling me lately trying to help me "reduce my spend" but in reality there's a flag on my account that I'm out of contract and they want to tie me in again. They won't let me change package without re-signing to 12 month contract so my opinion is... well, it's not polite! Actually, I did ask them to give me a free upgrade to Diamond upgrade level and I'd get the iPhone 3GS - they initially refused, then later called me back offering €50 call credit - which is the difference between the Silver and Diamond iPhone price - I said I'd think about it but I think I can do better than that, €50 is a paltry amount considering the 18 month iPhone contracts which are not cheap in themselves.

Looking at my monthly breakdown, it's obvious the big spend months are mainly from travel - data roaming has been killing me (my XDA is my primary email device when abroad). When at home, spend isn't too bad, usually in the €70-90 range per month.

A look at the last 30 days gives me this breakdown:

197 SMS €15.97
10.5 hours (628 minutes) on 132 outgoing calls €33.00
8 Premium SMS/Enquiries €5.84
Data 13.7 MB €0.00 (due to package).

Here's the current package I'm on with o2, and monthly cost:
50 free mins €0
250 'Life Mins' €40
250MB addon €6.17

Ok, so to the questions:

• can I get a cheaper bill for similar usage on Vodafone?
• are other providers (3, Meteor) as reliable as the big 2 these days?
• I need to get a new smartphone (shortlisted either HTC Hero or iPhone 3GS) - any thoughts on this regards contracts? (not looking for technical comments on the devices)
• any other thoughts/suggestions/recommendations?

I've been thinking about switching to either Vodafone pay as you go, or bill pay - and sell whatever phone I get and buy the Hero or iPhone sim-free. I think that might give me the long term savings I'm looking for, even if it's expensive buying the device upfront.

All comments and suggestions welcome.
Cheers!


My last 14 months of spend (not including last 30 days)
24/08/2009 €105.38
23/07/2009 €90.46
24/06/2009 €195.48
22/05/2009 €71.88
24/04/2009 €69.11
23/03/2009 €131.56
23/02/2009 €71.99
22/01/2009 €92.75
22/12/2008 €84.96
21/11/2008 €81.61
22/10/2008 €81.49
22/09/2008 €156.16
22/08/2008 €259.74
22/07/2008 €174.20
Total €1,666.77
Average €119.06

deep1

Trojan wrote: »

197 SMS €15.97
10.5 hours (628 minutes) on 132 outgoing calls €33.00
8 Premium SMS/Enquiries €5.84
Data 13.7 MB €0.00 (due to package).

Here's the current package I'm on with o2, and monthly cost:
50 free mins €0
250 'Life Mins' €40
250MB addon €6.17

you didn't mention what networks you make most calls to.
i think o2 clear unlimited ( 30 day contract) will suit you fine.
which gives you free calls to o2 and landlines.
any other network call is 25c.
for free text i don't know if you use cabbage, you can use use your webtext from your ph as you only have 197 sms used last month, you get 250 webtext ( all over the world) so no charge there.
mobile internet add on same.

i was spending about same amount on meteor, after moving to above plan bill is €60 max, but most of my calls are to o2 and landlines.


Or Meteor has new plan Meteor Max for €85 you get unlimited call and text to any network plus 1gb data bundle. (12 month contract)

Trojan

Of the 132 calls, 79 calls to o2, 19 to Vodaphone, 14 to landlines, the rest negligible.

zt-OctaviaN

Im with O2 iPhone 3G (8GB) 175 contract.
51 euro every month (inc vat and insurance) remember the insurance on the 16Gb phone is much more 12 euro!! I get:
175 mins (this is ANY network ANY TIME) 1Gb data 100 SMS 10 MMS

Don’t forget you can use Skype over Wifi on this device so may suit you should you need to make a call from abroad.
Watch the Data abroad!! Its not a fixed price its per Kb you use! As I found out using Google Maps.

Nick

deep1

Trojan wrote: »

Of the 132 calls, 79 calls to o2, 19 to Vodaphone, 14 to landlines, the rest negligible.

o2 clear unlimited. = €20 ( includes calls to o2 and landlines)
19 vodafone call = €4.75
200 text addon = €12.05 ( if you don't use cabbage texter)
Mobile internet add on = €7.50

total cost = €44.30

you can save further €12.05 if you your webtext.
Total cost = €32.25

Trojan

Cheers guys, much appreciate your posts. Any Vodafone folks on here with figures on how much this usage would cost on there?