Mobile Phone Schemes and Plans etc across Locales

[Just17]

During a discussion here

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,109345.msg947131.html#msg947131

where I went a bit off topic and the thread was subsequently locked by the OP, I was attempting to get a comparison of the services provided by mobile operators in different locales.

There are two main schemes provided here at present ......  

a contract scheme which is a set monthly payment for a pre-determined time (usually 12 months) for which the customer is entitled to make calls to other mobiles and/or landlines up to a number of minutes on each, within the time period. The customer usually purchases a phone of their choice at a reduced rate. That phone used to be locked to that provider only.
What the exact status of the locking of phones is presently is, under such a contract, I am unsure, but  unlocking of phones that are outside contracts must be facilitated.

the second main scheme is a 'pay as you go' system where the customer buys credit as and when needed to make calls or send texts. The credit can be topped up at any time by buying a slip at a local shop and dialling in with a pass number to add the amount to the credit. The cost of calls on such a scheme is a little higher than the contract scheme above. There is no subsidy for phone hardware with this scheme.

this year one provider introduced a new type of scheme .......  a monthly payment, without contract. This scheme has become very popular. It has a single payment per month for all calls and texts made.
As there is no contract there is no necessity to make a payment. On joining a free SIM is issued if required.
If you do not make a payment for the calendar month then you are unable to make calls or send texts during that month. You can of course make a payment for the following month which again allows calls and texts for that month.
It is presented as a sort of club which costs €10 per month to join, and you get free calls and texts for the month in which you are a member.
http://www.48months.ie/free-sim



In all three schemes above, receiving calls/texts/etc puts no cost on the receiver.
In the latter two schemes, even though the customer might have no credit for making calls, they can still receive calls and texts on their number.
I am sure there must be a time limit on the facility of receiving calls/texts without any payment .....  either 'top up' of the payg or monthly membership. This from experience has been at least six months, but could be longer. I never investigated.

From my understanding of mobile phone schemes in the USA, it appears that receiving calls/texts on a mobile phone costs the receiver as well as the originator.

Another aspect of mobile phone schemes which interested me were the situation around locked phones and when and how they can be unlocked from a provider and enable them to be used with any provider. Are phones purchased through a provider, under contract, allowed to be unlocked when the contract ends?

Then there are the schemes themselves ......  are they similar in structure and contract?
Are there better schemes in place in the USA than here?
How do they work?

Is it common for people to use phones capable of using two SIM cards at the one time?
These are available here but are not VERY common in daily use, except for those who have specific needs .....  maybe a business SIM and a personal SIM in the one phone; or maybe two SIMs from different providers to provide the best rates for specific types of calls. Mostly I believe it is in business that such phones are most used.


It would be interesting to compare what might be available in other locations to the above schemes.

[kjpetrie]

I don't know very much about what else is available in the UK, but we certainly have contracts in which people pay a monthly charge and get an allowance of free calls/texts after which they have to start paying.

I have a Pay-as-you-go phone, where I buy an allowance up front and can continue to make calls or send texts until the allowance is exhausted. I top up from a bank's ATM, but I could buy slips as Just17 describes.

In the UK I don't think it would be acceptable to charge people for incoming calls over which they have no control. Regulators and the law are very hot on issues of consent. The only exception is a transferred charge call where the operator comes on the line and asks whether you will accept the charges, and only puts the call through if the recipient agrees.

[Just17]

kjpetrie ....  can you receive calls even if your credit has run out?

Do you have any idea how long you would continue  to be able to receive calls on a SIM that had not had credit added for some time?

I suspect that there would be very little differences between Ireland and UK (and probably the rest of the EU) in the services provided and the terms of the various services.

[agmg]

kjpetrie ....  can you receive calls even if your credit has run out?

Do you have any idea how long you would continue  to be able to receive calls on a SIM that had not had credit added for some time?

I suspect that there would be very little differences between Ireland and UK (and probably the rest of the EU) in the services provided and the terms of the various services.

Here in Greece, if you don't make at least one renewal per year, your number will be cancelled.

[Just17]

kjpetrie ....  can you receive calls even if your credit has run out?

Do you have any idea how long you would continue  to be able to receive calls on a SIM that had not had credit added for some time?

I suspect that there would be very little differences between Ireland and UK (and probably the rest of the EU) in the services provided and the terms of the various services.

Here in Greece, if you don't make at least one renewal per year, your number will be cancelled.

Thanks agmg

So a user could have 12 months or so between 'top-ups' .......  and not calendar year?

[agmg]

Yes. At least all operators here have this rule for using the pre-paid card scheme. You can also buy "time packages" (including minutes and sms) between users of the same service. For example, me and my wife use the same service (and many friends and relatives too). For 7€ each, we have 600 minutes and 600 sms between us and each user of this service for a 30-days period. We buy a 10€ prepaid card for each number every month, spend 7€ for this "package" and the spare amount goes for users outside our service.

[kjpetrie]

kjpetrie ....  can you receive calls even if your credit has run out?

Don't know. Never tried, but don't see why not.

Do you have any idea how long you would continue  to be able to receive calls on a SIM that had not had credit added for some time?

I believe it's about six months of non-use and non-top-up, after which they cancel the SIM. If you use or top up you reset the countdown.

I suspect that there would be very little differences between Ireland and UK (and probably the rest of the EU) in the services provided and the terms of the various services.

I think that's likely.

[T6]

here in colombia i know that one company lets you have it 2 years, tigo

on another is 1, we let a simcard unused for that time and when we tried to to use it, it didn't connected, it seems that you can go to a office and ask for a solution to reactivate the line and keep using the same simcard, probably asking to put money on it

something about sim cards, i recommend to change them each 3 years, specially if you change from a phone to a smartphone, some new models won't work well with old 16k simcards(no access to phone list) or won't use the inbox calls properly, usually the company does that free of charge, the old card is disabled and new one gets the old phone number