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Mobile phone providers have found consumers love to text; text messaging is a fun way to communicate with friends and family. Is it any surprise many mobile phone providers have incorporated that love of text messaging into a promotional method to get new customers? Now the question arises at which free text services are actually right for you and which offer too much or too little. Orange offers unlimited evening and weekend text messages on many of the contracts and unlimited anytime text messages on a select few contracts. What the consumer actually gets is based upon whether a 12 month or 18 month contract is agreed upon. Unlimited weekend text messages are available on all 12 month contracts of £25 or more per month; unlimited weekend and evening text messages are available on all 18 month contracts of £25 or £30 per month; and unlimited anytime text messages are available with the £35 or more per month contracts. Orange considers the evening to be between 7pm to 7am Monday thru Thursday, and the weekend is from 7pm Friday until 7am Monday. Though, “unlimited” stops at 3000 text messages per month, and that averages out to roughly 100 text messages per day on average. More than enough for some people (though unlikely to be close for others that I know!). How does it add up? One of the plans offered by Orange is for a basic 3000 text messages with no minutes for talking at a price of £25 per month which means “unlimited” is roughly worth £25. All of the plans offered by Orange come by default with a minimum of 100 text messages. Do you make over 100 text messages in any given month? If you answered no, chances are you will never need the unlimited text messages service. If you answered yes, I suggest getting a plan that comes with minutes and offers the unlimited anytime text messages. Another popular mobile phone provider offering free text messages is T-Mobile. 500 free minutes is the claim, but what does it really mean? Every off-peak plan offered by T-Mobile has an additional 500 text messages with a minimum contract, new service, and a valid credit check. Text play, text chat, text game messaging, group text, text sent from abroad, text to landlines, texts to non-UK networks, and texts to premium rate numbers are conveniently not included in this offer. Unfortunately, should you decide to downgrade or even upgrade your plan or contract you may lose the free text offer. Added with the other restrictions on who can be texted, the question arises as to the actual value of the promotion. All off-peak T-Mobile plans come with free texts for plans of more than £18 per month. 3000 anytime minutes costs £15 per month and a 24 month contract; while 1000 anytime minutes and 50 text messages costs £18 per month for a 12 month contract. The free text messages are available with the 1000 free minutes but not the 3000 anytime minutes. Apparently, the 500 free text messages are only available with plans offering text messaging by default. Do you need the 500 extra text messages? The answer depends on whether or not you use more than the already given text messages. The free text messages do not increase the cost of the plan, and sometimes it is better safe than sorry. Virgin Mobile also offer free messages. However, unlike other mobile phone providers, the free text messages are given as a reward for paying monthly online. When you pay your bill online, all the text messages are doubled for your account. The contracts are all a set 12 months, and only Pay Monthly customers are eligible for this special offer. Another notable difference is seen with what happened at Virgin Mobile after the contract period wears off when compared to other mobile phone providers. After the initial 12 months, the cost actually lowers substantially. Additionally, Virgin Mobile is the one of the few mobile phone providers which will roll over unused minutes and text messages for one month. When it comes to “free” text messages, you will want to carefully see what the “free” is going to cost. Simply by doing your homework before choosing a mobile phone provider will allow you to choose a contract and plan best suited to your needs whether you need 50 text messages or 3000.
Staff editor, Mobile Phones Section, March 2007 |
