The mobile industry is highly volatile, and for years there have been positive and negative changes to tariffs and allocations which have benefited or adversely affected consumers.
In the year since I created my website, there have been some massive changes to tariffs.
Mobile contracts have become far more expensive (>£40/month) and allocations of data have been reduced.
4G is becoming more widely sold as the norm, though there are still many MVNOs which still don't provide 4G services.
PAYG monthly bundles have become worse value than they were in mid 2015.
I've often chosen MVNOs and monthly bundles due to the great value that they have offered. A year ago, even many SIM only contracts were only slightly better than PAYG bundles, and of course most of these contracts were based on 12 month contracts.
In July 2016, there are very few MVNOs that offer great value, so my website is struggling to really "sell" consumers PAYG bundles as a viable alternative to monthly contracts.
This change has been brought about due to MNOs clawing in more revenue.
- Vodafone, for example have killed off one of their few MVNOs (Mobile by Sainsbury's), leaving a real gap in the market.
- Since O2 MVNO giffgaff provided 4G "at no extra cost" in September 2015, their data speeds have been getting progressively worse, yet their prices have increased.
- Post Office Mobile launched in July 2015 with some brilliant value PAYG bundles, but soon reduced allowances to sustain their business. They are to close down this network in August 2016.
- GT Mobile similarly had some good value PAYG bundles, then later increased their prices. GT Mobile has just closed and become part of Lycamobile.
- As You Go Mobile launched in April 2016. By June 2016 the website had been offline for a few months with an announcement that there would be more news in late June. There was a delay of several days, and now their website simply doesn't work and this MVNO has folded.
These examples demonstrate just how tough the mobile industry is. Most MVNOs fold within a few years, and the fact that some of these haven't lasted anywhere near that long shows that no one network is safe.
Scratching around for a good value mobile deal has - once again - become much harder.
I'm currently still using Life Mobile as my main network. For £6 a month on a rolling contract I get all the minutes, texts and data that I need for my everyday use. I can't find anything else that comes close enough to this deal apart from Talkmobile.
I'd like to switch to Talkmobile, but all I ever read about them puts me off: Their contract customers (like parent MNO Vodafone) are complaining of being overcharged for mobile use, which then leads to a default on their credit file - Something that I'm not willing to risk!
Who currently offers the best PAYG bundle value?
I hate to say it, but giffgaff does.
There is currently so little good choice, that giffgaff's 30 day bundles are actually the best value for general mobile use.
Personally, I feel that giffgaff's bundles are really poor value from £10-15, and their PAYG prices are now the highest amongst MVNOs, which really ought to put a lot of customers off. Plus, there is also the major issue of giffgaff's data service which simply doesn't work for thousands of customers.
The mobile industry is in a bit of a mess. Many have threatened to increase prices due to brexit, as well as increase prices to cover the lost revenue from changes to European roaming charges.
All of this is squeezing the price of using your mobile in the UK, and right now PAYG monthly bundles and contracts are all pretty poor value.
