Mobile Phones

Yes I know - daft topic for me to post about. Mr Blaney is officially
allowed to laugh, point and generally poke fun.

My current phone's display has failed so I therefore need to buy a new
one. I have been perusing the available hand sets available on Virgin
PAYG. I'd settled on a particular model [1] and hey presto and now it's
March it's not available for Virgin anymore at a decent price [2]

Can someone who understands the mobile phone market explain how handsets
can be available for a particular operator one minute and not the next?
I'd also like to know why handsets are available via some outlets at
hugely different prices to other outlets for the same operator and
tariff. I am totally confused - I expect "demand and supply" comes into
it somewhere but I am struggling to see how. A genuine answer would be
appreciated in amongst the pisstakes.


[1] no I'm not saying which one as you'll laugh, point and generally
criticise.
[2] from Carphone Warehouse.

 

Could you get the 'phone you want without worrying about the provider?
I've got some PAYG Virgin sims here if you can. (I got some of the
freebies a few months ago, and for some reason they very kindly sent me
3 more the other week).

--
Lesley
CBR600FW
SBS#11 (with oak-leaf cluster)
BOTAFOT#101A UKRMHRC#12
BONY#54P BOB#18
Real burds don't take hormones, they rage naturally

 

Paul Corfield wrote:

I can't help, but an observation, the Sharp GSX-15 from Vodaphone at 40
squids was awesome vale and vanished pretty darn quick to be replaced by
the GSX-17, which as far as I can tell is identical but 20 squids more.
Not before I snaffled two of them though

As for the price difference, I never noticed other than the odd squid
here and there and I looked in a lot of shops.

 

If it's a black Razr V3 you're after, then I have a brand new one here,
unlocked for all networks, ('cept 3).
Bought it with a new contract at Xmas with a view of ebaying it. I opened it
so that it could be unlocked, and put it back in the box.
I'm open to sensible offers if anyone is interested, or I'll get my arse in
gear and ebay it.
Oh, and I bought a leather case with belt hook etc, as well.

--
Greybeard

FLHRCI -01 UK ( 95 cu-in Stg 2. Big Boy!)
Trumpet Trophy 1200 -96, (The Barge) for rainy days

ukrm@foxtails[dot]co[dot]uk


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I quite like the looks of this one:

http://www.mobilegazette.com/toshiba-ts10-050906.htm

Not that I'm going to get one - the current contract is giving me a company
mobile.

 

Well, as others have said, it's a pretty complex business. I personally have
stayed with Vodafone for years and always threatened my way to a decent
upgrade each year.

But, spotted some really good deals on pay monthly Orange phones, where
basically the phone costs nothing. Pay £20 per month and get cashback
periodically, which means the effective cost is nil. Visit www.e2save.com
and look for the Orange tariffs where it says 12 mths free rental. I think
they're part of Carphone Warehouse. Cashback deals are fine - this is what
my mum does each year and as long as you keep the bills and submit a simple
form, she says its pretty easy. She's actually just ordered a Nokia 6230i
with 1000 minutes off peak each month free for £20 a month, but with £240
cashback.

 

Paul Corfield wrote

I won't laugh and point, much, because I have been waiting for a phone
fred to come up so I can hijack it to ask my own questions.


Here goes:

Bluetooth headsets, apart from price is there any real difference
between them?

 

Thanks for that link. I don't need a contract phone just PAYG and there
is a related site doing those orders. I got what I wanted via that site
so it is all ordered on its way.

I think you are correct that it is all linked to the Carphone Warehouse
as the site design etc is very reminiscent of the main website.

 

Worth pointing out that[1] PAYG phones on O2 and Vodafone are not SIM-locked,
i.e. you can use them on any network. Orange and T-Mobile (Virgin is
warmed-over T-Mobile) tend to lock their phones such that you can only use
them on their networks.

In other words, if you see a good deal on a PAYG O2 or Vodafone phone, you
can almost certainly buy that, then whip out the SIM card from your Virgin
phone and stick it straight in without any difficulty. So, you needn't
restrict yourself to phones available on Virgin.

Some of the trickier things like MMS might not be provisioned properly
without some faffing around with menus and downloads, but I suspect you're
one of those strange "I only use my phone for phone calls" people ;-)

[1] at least the last time I did this ...

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, steve auvache

I've got a Samsung one which has a stupid blue light that flashes every
few seconds whenever it's powered on.

Fucking ridiculous idea if you wear it in the car at night, 'cos you
keep catching a blue flash out of the corner of your eye, and in dodgy
areas it's an illuminated "PLEASE MUG ME" sign.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of
the ability to unlearn old falsehoods.

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha GTS1000

 

Wicked Uncle Nigel wrote

Good point.

<compiles prerequisites list>
1 No stupid blue flashing lights.

 

It will depend on the deal that the operator has worked out with the
manufacturer.

Say that Virgin wanted to offer Nokias' latest mobile to their poor
unsuspecting customer base. The phone Nokia and get an handset cost
from them. They then sit down and work out how much they can afford to
charge their punters for them (and how their competitors will be
charging for the same item) and then go back to Nokia to try to
renegotiate the price.

The phone companies generally view the actual handsets as loss-leaders
- they can make several hundred pounds loss on a handset knowing that
(on average) over the 12 month cycle they will make that money back
(and more!) in usage charges and/or monthly charges (txts are a good
case in point - they cost the phone company as close to nothing as
makes no difference yet they charge 10p+ for each message.)

Again - it depends on what deal the airtime company has negotiated with
the phone manufacturer, what sort of profit return the airtime company
expects to make from usage (trendy music phones are more likely to go
to bright young things who will tend to send more txts and use the
phone more for airtime and so can be offered at a lower price to the
punter even though the phone body itself actually costs twice what a
less trendy phone may cost - so a phone company can afford to do really
cheap deals on the handsets knowing that their costs will be recouped
quickly).

It's all a big calculation game. Phone companies make money (lots and
lots of money) from airtime and other services like SMS. Becuase it's a
very competitive game they want to attract punters by offering cheap
phones up front knowing that most people won't look too hard at the
call costs and SMS costs.
And once the infrastructure investment has been repaid (a mobile
basestation would cost about £100,000 and you need lots of them for
good coverage) then the phone usage income is mostly profit.

Phil