Post Office Mobile
There is yet another new MVNO piggybacking on the EE network in the form of Post Office Mobile.
The Post Office have been saying that they would set up their own PAYG virtual network for some time (it was first announced in 2012), so it's been a long time to wait and see what they would offer.
At first thoughts, I didn't have much faith: The Post Office is a much derided, but still well-loved icon of Britishness. What would their pricing be?
I think that the thought that stuck in my mind was who is their target customer base?
Given that the main Post Office customer demographic seem to be ladies and gentlemen over a particular age, I thought that they would be offering a very basic PAYG SIM that you could top up in Post Offices. I was hoping for some reasonable PAYG rates, but was worried that Post Office Mobile would head down the route the AgeUK have done with their hugely overpriced Ownfone service - Shame on you AgeUK for tying vulnerable pensioners in to rolling contracts when PAYG will probably cost them less [my website is the best place to head if you want to compare good value PAYG and bundle rates].
So what are Post Office Mobile offering, and are they competitive?
I am very happy to announce that yes, they are. I have already updated my website so that you can see how they compare to other PAYG tariffs and bundles.
What are the rates? The basic PAYG service is competitive, with calls to mobiles and landlines costing 8p/minute, which is very reasonable for PAYG. Texts cost 10p each, which is a bit high compared to other PAYG networks at this price point. Data costs 10p/MB, which is not great.
However, like most other networks, Post Office Mobile have jumped on the bundle bandwagon and offer some really great value bundles (each lasts for 30 days):
£5 gets you 250 minutes, 3000 texts and 500MB of data, which is the best value bundle available for this price. Pay another £2.50 and you get double the minutes, which is also excellent value.
£10 gets you a better than average bundle, with 500 minutes, 3000 texts and 2GB of data - Great if you are an average smartphone user.
Pay £15/month, and you'll get 1000 minutes, 3000 texts and 3GB of data, whilst the top priced bundle is £20 which will get you 1000 minutes, 3000 texts and 5GB of data.
When you compare these bundles with the other best available bundles here, you can see that Post Office Mobile is really excellent value. Though of course, as I always try to emphasise, you only get the best value when you closely match your bundle to your usage.
All of these bundles renew automatically, so if you want to cancel this or change to a different bundle, this is managed by text message. Post Office Mobile say that they will send a reminder text in ample time before your current bundle expires, so hopefully this will also contain straightforward subscribe/unsubscribe options, as I'm guessing that the main demographic choosing this service in the beginning will not be 100% au fait with such systems.
Will Post Office Mobile be a success?
They deserve to be. These bundles suit Mr and Mrs Average, and come with generous allocations of minutes, texts and data, depending on how you use your phone.
Personally, I think that the biggest hurdle to overcome is the stigma of the Post Office brand, and of course who will be the first to see their adverts.
When I first signed up to Asda Mobile (when they piggybacked on Vodafone), my colleagues laughed, but back then their PAYG rates were the cheapest available (8p/minute, 4p/text), and it soon became apparent that low priced MVNOs needn't be cheap and nasty, even if they do carry a less-than-Gucci brand name.
Given that I have yet to see Post Office Mobile advertise anywhere, and there are no reviews, I'd say that this MVNO could be a slow-starter, and their image will put some potential customers off, but for the savvy bargain hunters out there, this could be the network for you - Provided that you know that it exists.
I do hope that people discover Post Office Mobile, because for the last two years bundles have been really taking off, yet most networks have decided that £10 a month is a good starting price.
Post Office Mobile's £5/month bundle offers fantastic value to anyone needing a fair number of minutes who isn't cybernetically joined to their smartphone.
I am more than pleasantly surprised at their bundles, and it's good to see some competition in the PAYG mobile industry once again - In particular MVNOs who are charging people a tenner a month should take note.
