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Mobile Phones

What mobile phone networks are there in the UK?

There are four second-generation GSM networks in the UK (with their respective active subscriber numbers in June 2002):

• Orange, owned by France Telecom: 12.8 million
• Vodafone, owned by Vodafone AirTouch: 11.8 million
• O2 (formerly BT Cellnet), owned by BT: 11.2 million
• T-Mobile (formerly One2One), owned by Deutsche Telekom: 11.1 million

All 4 network operators provide virtually full coverage of the UK territory/population. All of them are said to have good customer service. T-Mobile numbers include 2.4 million customers of Virgin Mobile, a reseller (part-owned by Deutsche Telekom) that is focused on simple phone services and excellent customer service.

What will my phone charges depend on?

Your rate plan. Your calling pattern. And your amount of chatting. Accordingly, you should take your time to evaluate your calling pattern: monthly minutes, daytime/evenings/weekends (peak/off-peak), national/international.

How do I get a personal mobile phone?

The UK market for mobile phone services is highly competitive, there are a multitude of rate systems and packages, but generally speaking the differences between the four operators are limited. All four operators offer ordinary monthly subscription packages and various prepaid packages.

Visit their respective websites and high street stores for details.

Besides Virgin Mobile, there are other virtual network operators selling mobile phone services over retail shops independent from the four operators, e.g. Carphone Wharehouse, Link, Dixons etc.

What's the difference between "pay monthly", "pay upfront" and "pay as you go"?

There are three different basic forms of packages for mobile phone services:

1. Pay monthly: you pay a monthly subscription fee, get free minutes, pay very little money at the beginning
   

2. Pay upfront: you pay the subscription fee for a whole year at the beginning, get free minutes
   

3. Pay as you go: you buy a phone and minutes, no monthly bill, no contract, no credit check, you can buy new minutes later or reload your existing card, ultimately more expensive, but easy to start, easy to monitor

What do I need to know about making international calls on mobile phones?

You are most likely to need your mobile phone (the American term 'cellphone' is not very common in the UK) for international calls, too. Here, there can be bigger differences. The industry regulator says UK operators' international calls are the highest in Europe.

Take a lot of time to compare the different packages and ask a lot of questions, both to friends/colleagues as well as to retail shop staff. By paying a monthly 'mark-up fee' of e.g. £2.50 (with some operators), you will get substantially reduced rates of between 15 and 30p/minute to continental Europe (standard rates can be an outrageous £1/min).

Orange registers by far the biggest volume of outgoing international calls on its UK network. Vodafone is most popular with people roaming abroad. If you need to make regular international calls from your mobile, then spend a lot of time studying their respective per minute rates to your chosen countries.

Do I need a UK credit history to get mobile phone service?

No, but if you are new to the UK and don't have a credit history here then most operators will not allow you to make any international calls (within the UK or outside of the UK) for the first three months. Vodafone asks you for a deposit fee of £250, that will be refunded after 6 months.

What documents do I need to start a contract?

You will need at least 2 documents proving your UK address of residence (utility bills, tenant's agreement), because operators are afraid of fraud by people opening fake contracts and smuggling subsidized phones to other countries.

Should I get a WAP phone to access Internet services on the move?

Yes, if you are a high-tech freak, an online junkie or just an "early adopter" of new technologies. No, if you just want to make phone calls, because the actual WAP service (Wireless Access Protocol) is very slow, not very content-rich and has been generally perceived as a flop. You might want to wait for 3^rd generation phones using 3G/UMTS technology from March 2003 onwards. In any case, even basic mobile services allow you to send the increasingly popular SMS, or text messages.

What about the new broadband 3G networks?

The first network to get off the ground was "3" (owned by Hutchison) starting in March 2003. All four second-generation network operators will start their respective 3G services later. Phones and calling plans are more expensive, but offer a better sound quality, a faster data transmission speed for e.g. photo messaging and the possibility of video calls and watching video clips.

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