easyMobile - cheap tariff ends June 2006

[Hands0n]

The promotional tariff for easyMobile of 2p per text and 6p/min voice ends today, June 30. Will they re-introduce it in competition in the future? Who knows. For now the tariff will become somewhat uncompetitive against some, but not against others.

easyMobile.com advocates attractive pricing in the mobile market. Since launching our mobile service in the UK we have always indicated our pricing and our promotional offer on our web site.

Our promotional offer ends on June 30, 2005 and I am informing you that our standard prices will apply as of July 1, 2005 and these will apply to all our customers.

15p Voice Calls - any UK network, anytime

5p Texts - any UK network, anytime

There are no other pricing changes to our service or charges.

This continues to be great value with our Pay As You Go.

easyMobile.com offers a plain and simple tariff. One attractive fixed price for voice calls to any UK network anytime, and similarly for texts, no matter how few or how many calls or texts you send.

"This continues to be great value..........." I don't think so! Makes Virgin and O2 look quite cheap by comparison, especially if you talk for more than 5 mins or so a day!

[Jon3G]

Some more info on this

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07...ymobile_price/

[Hands0n]

There appears to be little in it ......... at first glance ........ but ...........

Using easyMobile vs Virgin tariffs and taking an example of 10 mins voice calls per day plus 10 SMS Text messages per day the total for each network comes out at £2.00 daily usage.

The figures widen when taken to 20 mins voice plus 20 SMS Text to £4.00 (easyMobile) and £3.50 (Virgin).

The more minutes/text you use in a day the wider the gap becomes between these two particular MVNOs.

This is taken from the current respective tariffs between easyMobile and Virgin;

easyMobile: 0.15p/min voice (x-net) - 0.05p per text (x-net)
Virgin: 0.15p/min 1st 3 mins, then 0.05p/min voice (UK Landline) - 0.10p per text (x-net)

Note the voice is for UK Landline, but that easyMobile do not distinguish. If you are calling x-net mobile then the door swings entirely the other way and in easyMobile's favour.

A sample spreadsheet of the numbers is included below for illustrative purposes.

Clearly, then, at 10 mins there is nothing in it, beyond 10 mins MVNOs like Virgin start to steal the prize from easyMobile, and the situation becomes more unfavourable to easyMobile the more mins that are used [for landline calls].

PLUS (!) the other MVNOs have available Internet and MMS which easyMobile currently do not, and according to their CS, they will not cater for in the forseeable future.

All in all then, it is not a straightforward decision for you to make between easyMobile and another MVNO such as Virgin. If your call pattern is largely UK Landline then Virgin looks cheaper. If it is mainly x-net mobile then easyMobile comes up trumps. If it is a mix, then you need to generate a sample spreadsheet to see which network best suits your call pattern. The difference could be significant!

As always, the watchphrase is Caveat Emptor - or in old money "Buyer Beware".

Mins easyMob Virgin easyMob Virgin Txt Voice Voice Text Text 1 0.15 0.15 0.05 0.10 2 0.15 0.15 0.05 0.10 3 0.15 0.15 0.05 0.10 4 0.15 0.15 0.05 0.10 5 0.15 0.15 0.05 0.10 6 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 7 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 8 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 9 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 10 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 11 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 12 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 13 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 14 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 15 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 16 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 17 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 18 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 19 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 20 0.15 0.05 0.05 0.10 3.00 1.50 1.00 2.00 easyMobile 4.00 Virgin 3.50

[Ben]

It does indeed make for interesting reading. Texting on easyMobile looks to be a winner though - a standard rate of 5p/msg from a handset isn't something I've been blessed with since the days of £50 Orange topups making everything half price. That said, I've not found a use for my easyMobile SIM card. I have it in an old handset, but I've not been drawn in to the 'easy' brand at all. Perhaps it's the underlying T-Mobile network that puts me off.

Interesting read though, hands0n. Nice to see that Virgin are still holding their own in some regards.