Do You Need A Contract?
Typically, a contract is not going to offer you the best value unless you are buying a phone and a contract together.
EU Mobile Roaming Charges Ban Takes Effect
Instead, you can look to purchase a SIM-only deal. This alone can help to dramatically reduce your monthly payments. A SIM-only deal is a deal that doesn’t require you to purchase a handset in monthly instalments.
Could You Try A Brand New Network?
It might be time for a change if you have been on the same network for a long time. There are all kinds of newcomers to the industry including Tesco Mobile, Giffgaff, and The People’s Operator. All of these networks provide service by ‘piggybacking’ and using the broadcast towers provided by the main four operators. However, they end up charging significantly less. They work just like getting service from one of the main four cell phone services. Transferring your number over is as simple as asking for a PAC (Porting Authorisation Code) from your current network. From there, your new service provider will handle the porting process.
What Operating System Is Right For You?
Because you will be making a switch, you will be able to choose from the various operating systems available on your new network. This is the interface the phone uses and there are various features that can be synced along with your desktop including your calendar, browsing history, and more.
Are You On The Best Phone Tariff?
If you are considering making a switch, you are likely going to be choosing from Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS. The truth is, the choice is entirely subjective and they are rather similar from a feature standpoint. There is also Windows Phone, but there are much fewer apps available for it.
Could You Bundle With Other Services?
Nowadays, you don’t have to purchase pre-bundled services. A lot of the newer and more competitive mobile phone contracts you will find are from various companies like Sky or BT. It is always worth looking to see what kind of discount you will be able to get from adding a SIM to your existing packages.
The biggest downside to consider when you are looking for bundle discounts comes with tying yourself to a single provider. If you want to switch, you will likely need to switch everything together which can be much more of a hassle.
Do You Need Freebies?
A lot of cell phone providers will offer free gifts to incentivise you to sign up with them. However, you don’t want to look at the free gifts as a reason to sign up. After all, the free gifts aren’t always as ‘free’ as they seem. Instead, figure out if the deal makes financial sense for you without the gifts in play.
EE offers free BT Sport and O2 offers O2 Priority which is a popular freebies app. While these are fantastic additions, they shouldn’t be your primary reason for choosing a specific network.
Can You Go Without A Commitment?
While you might be able to get a discount with a long term contract, it might end up putting you in a worse situation down the road. After all, there are always new handsets and new deals coming out all of the time. Therefore, if you make a long term commitment to a company with a contract, you could end up costing yourself a lot of potential savings down the road. It is typically better to keep yourself free from contracts with a SIM-only tariff in order to maintain optimal flexibility.
Are You Willing To Haggle?
One of the best ways to save big is by simply asking for a better deal. Tell the existing company you want to leave and they will send you to the retention department in order to try to tempt you to stay. They will usually offer big discounts to retain you as a customer.
