[kryten]

Who else is masively irritated by the 30 day time limit on threepay top-ups?

[Ben]

It's a total pain, that's for sure! It's like being transported back in time to the launch of Pre-pay on GSM in the late 90's! The high(ish) pre-pay spend that results provides the ability to offer cheap call rates and reasonable handset subsidies, but the resulting structure is just far too rigid for most pre-pay users. Still, it's an alternative product - I think in some ways it's good to have a variety of different tariffs and structures to choose from.

[3GScottishUser]

Its a dead duck now.

The 30 Day thing was OK before Easy and Fresh came along with similar prices and no restriction. Neither of them subsidise handsets and therein lies the problem for 3. They need to rethink the pre-pay proposition fast as it accounts for more than 70% of the UK market.

[Hands0n]

I agree, its an utter pain in the 'arris. But it is also useful to have the ability to sample the network and its features before committing to a contract. And in that light, Threepay worked for me quite well enough. I also find that my family members who continue to be on Threepay do use up their credit before the 30-day period.

Given what Bob Fuller said earlier this year, that Threepay was not aimed at low-spend users (I'm paraphrasing now ...) and was more of a substitute for a contract, I can't see that it is worth making the comparison with other PAYG offerings. Threepay does not even come close - and with Easymobile and Fresh turning up the heat H3 have some way to go to start to compete, that is if they even want to at all.

I can imagine some uncomfortable board and marketing meetings at H3, but they are going to have a tough time [effectively] competing against themselves in that arena! Especially as it was orginally sold as "Pay as you go" (their dealer's shop media still bears that assertion).

I reckon that H3 should start flogging the USIMs only as do all the other networks. There is sufficient liquidity in 3G handsets out there (just one look on eBay tells me that much) for them to at least getting Threepay back on to the market. Otherwise, as 3GSU reports elsewhere ( https://talk3g.co.uk/showthread.php?t=456 ), their [Threepay] offering will fade into obscurity and disappear without trace, as it is tied to handsets that are expensive and/or lacklustre.