Hi Everyone…

Just wondering what many of us Brits do for mobile phone contracts when going back to the UK for a visit for a weekend etc?

Ever since I left the UK I have kept my very old phone contract (does not even provide 3G or GPRS back in them days, anyone remember the o2 Genie contracts?) and still pay £10 a month on line rental etc, so when I go home for the weekend at certain times I can just pop my UK sim into my phone and am good to go (but no internet connection).

The question is how many of you have switched to Pre-Pay or another contract and can anyone recommended who the best provider would be i.e. value for money considering that I don’t go home that often.

Any ideas where I can look, I have tired Carphone Warehouse, but would really like to shop around before press ahead. Any good comparison sites I can use?

In addition, can we still get a phone contract if we live aboard (I very much doubt it but if anyone knows otherwise)?

K

I got a pre-paid SIM card from 3 : http://store.three.co.uk/SIM_Only/Voice_Pay_As_You_Go

You top up for a month with them. And get either a SIM with 3000 texts, 100 minutes of call time, and 500mb of data for 10£., or with 300 minutes and unlimited data of 15£.

I top up for 15£ whenever I'm in England and call and surf to my heart's content. Even for a few days the peace of mind is worth it. Coverage is good.

Not a Brit, but when I am there, I used a prepaid SIM from 3 and Lebara ( for calls abroad ) on a dual SIM phone. As for data, I get a 3GB prepaid Mobile Data SIM valid for 3 month for GBP10 ( lesser for 1GB valid for 1 month ) as well as keep my GiffGaff SIM.

http://giffgaff.com/

I use T-Mobile in the UK.

It's £2.50 for four days' internet (perfect for a weekend visit), or £20 for six months' internet. You can activate it by SMS, so within a minute of stepping off the plane I can check when the trains are leaving

For talk and text packages, check here: http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobil...u-go/boosters/

Coverage is much better than 3, especially outside cities up north.

Hi....

Yeh the problem is which provider. I most defo need a good data package, and to be able to send SMS i.e free ones included in the package. Plus i still have to call the Swiss when am in the UK too.

So many people offering different rates...slightly confused of who to go with. Plus where in live in the Midlands o2 coverage is not the best, a few bars if that.

So i also need to take in account the coverage.

Use the data to send SMS over the internet.

Buy some credit from fishtext.com or cherry-sms.com - it's much cheaper for international SMS, and the cost is the same, regardless of where you are.

On Android you can get a "connector" app such as WebSMS to automate sending the texts by the web-provider, rather than by your phone network.

I simply change the sim card to O2 when I'm here in London, but they've annoyed me by freezing my credit if I haven't topped up for a while.
Recently they froze my phone even though I still had £40 on the sim and didn't think I needed to top up.
That seems to be the problem when using pay-as-you-go.

Yep, you have to use the pre paid every 90 days or you lose the credit.

I get around it by getting several prepaid starter kits beforehand ( still got a few here in CH ), be it voice or data, activating in the UK on each trip.

The drawback is that the number varies and so it can be a pain in the event someone to call you using the latest number.

o2 did in fact reimburse the £40 when I went into an o2 shop, but it was a nuisance having my phone frozen when I arrived from the airport at a remote rural railway station early on a Sunday morning.

That is interesting, I changed my O2 contract to PAYG when I moved over to CH, I can top up online and I still have my old number (yes, it certainly is possible to port this, but I guess I was being a bit lazy as I don't spend that much time in the UK now) and I have not noticed them freezing credit of mine. Maybe just sending the odd text will keep it 'current'?

http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/?gcli...FUFO3wodhnzX9A

I've used this site before.

I've kept my mobile contract from the UK, only because it doesn't expire until end of this year.

I still want the number, but I'll change it to a bargain basement tarriff when I can.

I gave up bothering to be honest, I used to have a prepaid sim for the UK trips but it was more hassle than just using swisscom/skype when in the uk just for the weekends.

Every time I switched the uk sim on I would discover missed calls and messgaes from people who didn't which phone number was the current one. As my parents got older they just got more confused how to reach me.