Hi, so lets crack on from where we left off yesterday, just to recap. I highlighted the questions that you should be asking yourself before signing up for a mobile phone contract. And moreover going through the checklist will bag you a great mobile phone deal.
Today we are going to delve into the first two questions which I listed.
* The maximum which you are willing to pay for a contract.
As we know the duration of contracts vary depending on networks, it can be between 12 - 24 months depending on the kind of arrangement you have with them.
Determining how much you can afford to pay for a contract enables you to budget and also minimizes the possibilities of defaulted payments, which some operators do not take kindly to at all. Defaulting a payment can result in additional charges being imposed by the network operators. Taking into consideration that you are entering into a legally binding contract with the network, this means you will have to meet your due payments. Its is a good idea to calculate the monthly line rental and multiply it by the number of months which the contract runs for. This provides an estimate of the cost of the line rental for the duration of the contract, considering that you stick to the same price plan throughout. This calculation does not take call charges into account, (this will be discussed separately including methods to cut call cost). If it seems high and you feel that you might not be able to meet your obligation, it is time to rethink. You may want to consider a cheaper line rental or opt for a prepayment phone, which I will be discussing about very soon.
* The number of free minutes / text or both that the contract offers.
This is another important aspect that needs to be looked into, the number of free minutes or text varies from network to network. The offers come in various forms such as. The free air time can be restricted to calling your own network, or cross network, which means you are allowed to call specified networks, it can also apply to a specific period of the day or can be anytime of the day. The flexibility varies. Please ensure you read the small print to find out if some networks may be excluded.
Here is a list of the most common.
* Anytime any network
This offers free calls to any other mobile phone networks as long as you stick within your free airtime you will mot incur a charge. Ensure that you read the print to find out what the exclusions are.
*Off peak cross network.
This contract offers free calls during the evening to other mobile phone networks without a charge as long as you stick within your free minutes
*Local free evening calls.
This offers free evening calls to landline numbers within the UK or as stated by the network operator.
* National free evening calls.
This offers free evening national calls to landline numbers as long as you stick within your free airtime allowance.
* Inclusive text.
This may vary it can be restricted to the same number or cross network. The number of free texts also varies from contract to contract.
If you have owned a mobile phone before, the best way forward will be to have a look at how many minutes you use a month or how many text you send a month, analyse the findings and that will give a rough idea of how many text V free minutes meets your needs.
Choosing a price plan that offers the right amount of text and free minutes at the right price ends up saving you money as you might be able to stick within the free airtime and text and not incur a charge.
If you are going to be calling other networks then you are better off on a contract that offers free airtime to other network operators, and also if you will be using your phone anytime of the day consider a phone that offers this facility of free airtime any time of the day to any network / or same network, this also depends on whether you will be calling other / same network. If you text a lot then you might also want to take that into consideration whilst selecting your contract.
I hope you enjoyed this post and I shall be continuing with the other aspects in my next post
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