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I see many of the providers seem to be offering these these days - what's the principle, and more importantly, whats the catch ?
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Don't think there is a catch. Simply that SIM chips are now so cheap and the setup so automated that there's no longer a need to charge.
The telco makes its money on the calls, texts and data you use.
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the principal and the catch is PAYG, you need to top it up when it arrives. Or take out a contract for a fixed price per month.
Dont think I ever paid for a "sim"
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 25 Apr 13 at 16:35
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The "catch" is that the phone will be locked and you can only use the provider supplying the sim card. Sim Free phones will cost more but you can use whatever provider you like.
I think most service providers will either give you a Sim card or sell you one for a nominal amount.
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>> The "catch" is that the phone will be locked and you can only use the
>> provider supplying the sim card. Sim Free phones will cost more but you can use
>> whatever provider you like.
Unless you have had the phone unlocked, which you can ask for at the end of your +phone contract. I have had the Iphone unlocked ( and that also gives you "free" tethering )
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CGN, this thread was for free SIMs... Not phones on contract that may be locked to a network.
As it happens you can sometimes get a phone that is not locked to a network, but it depends where you get it. Carphone Warehouse usually had unlocked phones because this meant they could keep less stock. Imagine keeping a phone in stock for each network! Things may be different with expensive smartphones.
And the locked iPhone example is a reason to know why Android can be better. Tethering was always possible on phones supporting that without buying an add-on. The network operators couldn't really stop you. Apple gave them a way to stop you without an addon.
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Almost every street market in the country seems to have a stall which offers to unlock a phone, for a fee. Surely if you wishe to change the one you are transferring TO will do the unlocking for free?
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No, they won't, they cant generate the unlock code.
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What is the unlock service they are offering then? Forgotten passwords or something like that?
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The Telcos want to know why they are unlocking a phone,m and if it is because it is contracted to someone else, then they won't do it.
Street corners do not have the same issues.
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>> What is the unlock service they are offering then? Forgotten passwords or something like that?
The street corner operator has the phone in his grubby little mitt, and a direct cable connection from his PC into the phone internals - usually pre boot time before the phone baseband has kicked in. The Telcos dont have that.
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"CGN, this thread was for free SIMs... Not phones on contract that may be locked to a network."
You can't talk about "free sims" without looking at the price of the phone you are going to use it in. Yes you can buy a sim free phone at Carphone warehouse but it it will cost you a lot more than one locked on a network. Take their modest Nokia 100 - £24.99 sim free. You can buy it elsewhere for a little as £9 ) in fact I have seen it given away locked and subject to you buying £15 worth of calls.
It's not the cost of the phone or the sim separately you have to consider its the cost of acquiring both of them
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>> Yes you can buy a sim free phone at Carphone warehouse but it it will cost you a lot more than one locked on a network.
Not so!
My old PAYG, O2, Nokia kicked the bucket a few weeks ago. It would've cost me around thirty quid to get another from the O2 shop. Carphone Warehouse had a SIM free one for four quid!
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I am not sure he was including the really crap phones.......
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Phones are locked to protect the M(V)NO's investment in subsidising the equipment and in the cost of customer acquisition. They are only permitted to do this for the initial contract period. After this it is deemed your to do with as you wish.
Phones you buy retail without contract are unlocked because that contractual restriction does not apply (no contract).
Once you have an unlocked phone you are then free to get your SIM from wherever you wish. Rather obviously.
At that point then free SIMs may be of interest, especially if you're not bothered about the effort of porting your phone number. You may then have a variety of SIMs and recharge whichever one is most advantageous that week.
I do this with data SIMs for example where the number is of no interest to me. So I acquire various bargains, free or cheap offers, various usage restrictions from all over the world and then chop and change a I need.
Data contracts are quite advantageous in the UK, around £5/GB usually. But they can range up as high as £20/GB in Brazil for example. And unlimited contacts usually are not, since they have a fair use condition.
Pretty much anyone will give you a free SIM these days, since they are extremely cheap and it is to their advantage to have as many out there as possible. Provided that they have no credit on them, since if they do they become a liability - hence credit is rarely given away on a free SIM. Although not never.
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I have a free giffgaff SIM, Porting my old Vodafone number was simple. As soon as my wife's Vodafone credit runs out she will be using giffgaff SIM. G/G to G/G is FOC and calls are 10p a minute. 0800 calls are also free.
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Discovered in Jan that all carphone warehouse phones on contract are unlocked. Mine had a problem so the sales guy popped his different network sim in. I asked how it worked and he told me it was cheaper to keep all the phones unlocked as if they only had 1 left of a model they could sell it on whatever network the guy wanted
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For a phone on a contract you can request the unlock code at any time, even on day one of the contract.
You must however continue to pay for the duration of the contract or pay a termination fee.
As rtj posted earlier, places like CPW and P4U supply their contract phones already unlocked.
Mrs K upgraded her Sammy S1 to an S3 from P4U. £20 all-in on her existing O2 contract extended for 24mo. It came unlocked.
Handy if you travel alot and buy local SIMs for data use like Mark does.
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>> For a phone on a contract you can request the unlock code at any time,
>> even on day one of the contract.
They have the ability to vary that policy by Phone and contract. For an Iphone pay monthly phone it has to be done by the original contract holder contacting the network it was originally registered on (It needs the itunes user id and password to complete the process)
Your local market stall can bypass all that carp.
>> You must however continue to pay for the duration of the contract or pay a
>> termination fee.
Indeed.
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GiffGaff (owned by O2) freely gives advice on its website on how to unlock (or at least where to get it done) the majority of phones. See:
giffgaff.com/unlock
GiffGaff's remarkable PAYG deals (much cheaper than 02 itself!):
giffgaff.com/
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As an altenative to the main providers, I've been looking at ovivo
They have a tariff which costs a one-off £15, and then is free every month
ovivomobile.com/offer/ovivo-for-phones/ You get the £15 back as call credit, effectively making the sim free of charge
I don't use my phone much (I have a company one) so this looks pretty useful. I've found that the underlying service is vodafone.
You have to agree to a small number of adverts coming to your phone, but reports say that they are few and unobtrusive.
Has anyone tried ovivo? How was it?
Last edited by: Tigger on Sat 27 Apr 13 at 07:30
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>> As an altenative to the main providers, I've been looking at ovivo
>>
>> They have a tariff which costs a one-off £15, and then is free every month
>> ovivomobile.com/offer/ovivo-for-phones/ You get the £15 back as call credit, effectively making the sim free of
>> charge
>>
>> I don't use my phone much (I have a company one) so this looks pretty
>> useful. I've found that the underlying service is vodafone.
>>
>> You have to agree to a small number of adverts coming to your phone, but
>> reports say that they are few and unobtrusive.
>>
>> Has anyone tried ovivo? How was it?
So in what way is the better than a free PAYG sim, that you then top up with £15, and you dont have to put up with adverts?
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>> So in what way is the better than a free PAYG sim, that you then
>> top up with £15, and you dont have to put up with adverts?
>>
The monthly free allowance!
150 mins
200 texts
400MB data
Per month, all before it touches your £15 credit
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"free" sims - Bromptonaut
