Mobile phone costs, line rental costs and call charges

This is a costs summary, part of the Buyers Guide. For fuller details, see the Costs section.

Contract tariffs

In exchange for a monthly line rental, you can usually expect to be given a "free" allowance each month (or in some cases, each day). The inclusive calls are normally only to fixed line numbers in the UK, or to other mobiles on the same network, but there is a trend towards tariffs that make calls to other mobile networks inclusive. Other calls are charged for even if you have inclusive minutes remaining. Some tariffs only give you off-peak inclusive calls: all calls in peak time are charged for.

If you pay more monthly line rental, you get more inclusive minutes, and may pay less per minute for paid-for calls, but don't depend on it.

Don't make the mistake of choosing a tariff that covers all your calls with inclusive minutes. It's probably cheaper to be on a lower tariff and pay for some of your calls. Some tariffs allow you to "roll over" unused minutes to the next billing period, but there's little point in paying for time you don't need.

Expect to pay around £17.50 for a tariff offering around 60 minutes of inclusive calls (or 300 minutes of off-peak calls) per month, with extra calls at around 15p per minute peak, 5p to 10p per minute off-peak.

Prepay tariffs

There are several different pre-pay tariffs, some of which offer good value, and others which seem expensive. You can top them up by several methods; swipe cards, debit/credit cards, vouchers or in some cases using cash machines.

Expect to pay around 5p to 40p per minute for calls, with no inclusive call allowance, and no line rental. You can get lower charges by paying a daily or monthly line rental on some PAYG phones.

Sim only

If you have an existing handset, you can get a new sim card, subsidised by a new connection on a Vodafone or O₂ contract. This is an inexpensive way of staying connected, but you have to change your phone number. See the Sim Only page of the Costs section.

the mobile phone user guide

Buyers Guide : Costs