Hands0n
25th February 2011, 12:05 AM
Those awfully nice people at giffgaff have been giving away completely unlimited mobile data free of charge since its inception. All that was required was for an initial £10 activation top-up (at which point they also gave an additional £5). This has been great for anyone with a smartphone that is in an O2 area (the host network for the MVNO that is giffgaff) with 3G.
The plan, since December 2010, has been to start charging for mobile data as of 1st March. But for various reasons the charging system has been delayed several times and thus giffgaff have had to extend the period of free mobile data. Sadly the time is drawing near - giffgaff have had yet another delay and so the new data to start charging for mobile data is 1st April - but even they appear sceptical. So maybe we'll see the date pushed out to 1st May? Who knows.
As I read through their recently published article I was concerned that they would blow the proposition and charge silly money like the rest of the PAYG competition. But I was pleasantly surprised - not everyone will be, however.
In short, giffgaff propose to charge 20p for the first 1MB (charged in KB until the first 1MB is used), after this, data is free until you use over 20MB, when you will be charged 20p per MB thereafter.
giffgaff say, in their own words:
Put in another way, 20p a day for 20 MB. If you go over the 20MB, you will pay 20p per MB. If you use a small amount of data, then dont worry, there is a ramp up to the 20p, charged in KB. The aim of this is suit members who do not buy goodybags and either use a little or a lot of data. The percentage of customers using on average above 20MB per day is 7.6%. This pricing strikes that balance for the majority of members and is competitive with the PAYG market.
Full article is here: http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Blog/Data-pricing-update/ba-p/429379
Now it is important to note that this only applies to those people who do not purchase the goody bags of £10 and upwards. The goody bag purchasers get [truly] unlimited mobile data, but tethering is strictly not allowed. They have to purchase a new goody bag each month.
So, the proposed PAYG data tariff of 20p per 20MB of data is actually very good. For a lot of people that will be plenty enough. I am constantly surprised at how modest an amount of mobile data I use routinely. Of course, I can use huge amounts from time to time. But for typical Twitter, Facebook and some browsing I am often seeing usage of below 20MB.
The scary bit ...
But you do have to be careful with your mobile data usage once the new tariff kicks in. giffgaff do say quite clearly in their document "If you go over the 20MB, you will pay 20p per MB." Now that could amount to quite a scary bit of cash over a month if you are not diligently monitoring your data usage.
On Android I use an application called NetCounter by Cyril Jaquier. It is a very simple utility, but very capable too, allowing the setting of alert thresholds for data usage by day, week or month. NetCounter is completely functional and bug free.
So there you have it. The folk at giffgaff seem to have scored yet another win for most people. But seriously, if you believe that you will be routinely using more than 20MB per day then you really should consider the £10 goody bag (or higher) that will get you 200 minutes of calls, unlimited SMS and unlimited mobile data.
The plan, since December 2010, has been to start charging for mobile data as of 1st March. But for various reasons the charging system has been delayed several times and thus giffgaff have had to extend the period of free mobile data. Sadly the time is drawing near - giffgaff have had yet another delay and so the new data to start charging for mobile data is 1st April - but even they appear sceptical. So maybe we'll see the date pushed out to 1st May? Who knows.
As I read through their recently published article I was concerned that they would blow the proposition and charge silly money like the rest of the PAYG competition. But I was pleasantly surprised - not everyone will be, however.
In short, giffgaff propose to charge 20p for the first 1MB (charged in KB until the first 1MB is used), after this, data is free until you use over 20MB, when you will be charged 20p per MB thereafter.
giffgaff say, in their own words:
Put in another way, 20p a day for 20 MB. If you go over the 20MB, you will pay 20p per MB. If you use a small amount of data, then dont worry, there is a ramp up to the 20p, charged in KB. The aim of this is suit members who do not buy goodybags and either use a little or a lot of data. The percentage of customers using on average above 20MB per day is 7.6%. This pricing strikes that balance for the majority of members and is competitive with the PAYG market.
Full article is here: http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Blog/Data-pricing-update/ba-p/429379
Now it is important to note that this only applies to those people who do not purchase the goody bags of £10 and upwards. The goody bag purchasers get [truly] unlimited mobile data, but tethering is strictly not allowed. They have to purchase a new goody bag each month.
So, the proposed PAYG data tariff of 20p per 20MB of data is actually very good. For a lot of people that will be plenty enough. I am constantly surprised at how modest an amount of mobile data I use routinely. Of course, I can use huge amounts from time to time. But for typical Twitter, Facebook and some browsing I am often seeing usage of below 20MB.
The scary bit ...
But you do have to be careful with your mobile data usage once the new tariff kicks in. giffgaff do say quite clearly in their document "If you go over the 20MB, you will pay 20p per MB." Now that could amount to quite a scary bit of cash over a month if you are not diligently monitoring your data usage.
On Android I use an application called NetCounter by Cyril Jaquier. It is a very simple utility, but very capable too, allowing the setting of alert thresholds for data usage by day, week or month. NetCounter is completely functional and bug free.
So there you have it. The folk at giffgaff seem to have scored yet another win for most people. But seriously, if you believe that you will be routinely using more than 20MB per day then you really should consider the £10 goody bag (or higher) that will get you 200 minutes of calls, unlimited SMS and unlimited mobile data.