Three PAYG price hike on calls, texts, and data. Alternative punting PAYG SIM?

[JayEZ2K]

I use Three Pay-as-you-go for my calls and texts on my punting phone. This was just
3p/minute for calls, 2p per text, and 1p per MB of data.

Other than occasional dropped data which was a major problem if I was booking through WhatsAp, Three was cheap and good enough. But similar to WGs hiking their prices recently, I think they want to maintain their revenue stream during covid, and so they will increase their prices 5-fold. As of February 16th, the cost will increase to
10p/minute for calls, 10p per text, and 5p per MB.

I mostly use texts for inquiring and arranging meets, and since I arrange a lot of meets, this adds up quickly. And I'm generally not happy about such a large price increase, when I always try to cut costs so that I can punt more.

For alternative SIMs, there's a Tesco PAYG Lite tariff with a flat-rate of 8p/min for calls and 4p/text. There's also "1p Mobile" which is just 1p/text, although I don't know the quality of this brand, and I can't risk dropped texts or calls while waiting for punts to start.

Any thoughts on the best options for a punting SIM?

[stanley]

Sorry I haven't used PAYG for a while now, but if you're iPhone user, you could check out External Link/Members Only (last I checked, their app was not available for android)

It's £10 per month, 200 mins + 300 text and lets you dispose phone number if needed

[webpunter]

Vodafone [VF] £10 bundle
Their cheapest offering AFAIAA
15GB data
250 minutes
Unlimited texts

IMO not even worth bothering looking elsewhere to save maybe a few quid here & there
Difficult to burn thru 15GB in a month, especially if using wi-fi @ home etc

& trying to work out the costs of calls data & texts ain't worth the effort
[like on '3' as mentioned above / the same with the others]
The credit will always seem to run out right at the very time you don't want it to 

As a reminder - do NOT use the wifi @ work, not that many of us are going into wherever we work / do business etc @ the mo

With VF you are unlikely to get much signal drop out

Seems to me that even when the VF call / texts credit run out data still seems to work for donkeys ages afterwards
So messages / calls on WhatsA are fine

[Bru1901]

O2 do a £5 bundle on payg

Min topup is 10

Will last two months

Perfect if you have a dual sim phone

[Carl Adams]

Smarty - three's no frill version -

External Link/Members Only

[Doyle]

For alternative SIMs, there's a Tesco PAYG Lite tariff with a flat-rate of 8p/min for calls and 4p/text. There's also "1p Mobile" which is just 1p/text, although I don't know the quality of this brand, and I can't risk dropped texts or calls while waiting for punts to start.

Tesco Mobile use the O2 network so their network quality should be the same as O2. 

[Doyle]

Forgot to add, I use an EE PAYG SIM with the £1 talk pack.  £1 for 7 days with 100 mins and 200 texts.  No data as it's a dumbphone.

They also do a £5 pack for 30 days, 500Mb data, 250 mins and unlimited texts that I'd probably go for if I used a smartphone.

[Blackpool Rock]

You mention 1p mobile and that's what i've currently got, they use the EE network so coverage is probably the best in the country.
1p per min for calls; 1p per text and 1p per Mb which can work out expensive if using a lot of data but still seems as good as you get on PAYG.

You link a debit / credit card to the phone and it automatically tops up a minimum of £10 every 4 months so basically £2.50/month however if your credit drops to a quid or 2 it then tops up as and when required so you don't run out of credit.

Oh and any unused credit just rolls over rather than being lost forever 

Their website is also good and you can see instantly how much the last call or data use has cost you, I was with 3 mobile broadband previously and it was a bag of shite with available remaining data info being 12 hours or more out of date   


I'm assuming it's more down to leaving the EU / roaming etc rather than covid lockdown so it may be that they all start jacking the prices up but who knows   

[CoolTiger]

O2 do a £5 bundle on payg

Min topup is 10

Will last two months

Perfect if you have a dual sim phone

£5 per month is VFM Tariif, unlimited calls and texts. But there is NO Data Allowance included.

It's great to use if you have access to WiFi or can piggyback WiFi from your normal mobile.

[happyharry]

If it's only for occasional data use on your punting phone then this might be worth considering:
External Link/Members Only
£44 gives you 24 GB of data which is valid for 2 years - no phone calls included though

[Richthescouser]

If it's only for occasional data use on your punting phone then this might be worth considering:
External Link/Members Only
£44 gives you 24 GB of data which is valid for 2 years - no phone calls included though

I was just about to dig that link out myself.

[advent2016]

I use GiffGaff

For normal users £10 per month for 6GB data unlimited calls and txts. They do a £6 per month for 500MB data.  I get free punting sims as a perk from work.

[cotton]

Yeh i got a text from 3 yesterday notifying about those changes , thats one hell of a price hike.
Lebara do a £5 plan currently reduced to £2.50 for 2GB data , 1000uk texts and 1000uk mins , per month.

[Watts.E.Dunn]

3 seems to me to have piss poor coverge anyway, with Voodofone seemingly better!...

[escortman]

Great post JayEZ2K

I got the three text yesterday though it was a mistake no way am i staying with them at that price. I have used the Tesco Lite tariff for at least 7 years plus, you do not need to top up every month. I do not wish to take out a contract to use for my punting phone.

Cotton Lebara offer is only for first three months.

Talkmobile Unlimited Mins & Texts - 2GB Data - 1 Month Contract = £4.95

1p Mobile do a 12 month sim for £30

Stay safe all

[lillythesavage]

Great post JayEZ2K

I got the three text yesterday though it was a mistake no way am i staying with them at that price. I have used the Tesco Lite tariff for at least 7 years plus, you do not need to top up every month. I do not wish to take out a contract to use for my punting phone.

Cotton Lebara offer is only for first three months.

Talkmobile Unlimited Mins & Texts - 2GB Data - 1 Month Contract = £4.95

1p Mobile do a 12 month sim for £30

Stay safe all

The Lebara deal is 2.50 for 3 months then 5 quid a month. Surely the best deal for a punting phone. 2 gb data, 1000 minutes, 1000 texts and the bonus of 100 international minutes that I use to keep in contact with family in USA.

If you have time and inclination, go through the 1 quid sim packs in the shops, I found a brilliant number consisting of the first zero and 7 then only 7 and 1 other digit, you will get a free sim with the deal but a random number.

I changed from Smarty because they use the 3 network and coverage is awful, no such problems with Lebara so far.

[punterstanding]

The difficulty with all these alternatives is that they have your credit card details and address, not so good if you want to remain discrete. I use 3 PAYG on my punting phone for my Seeking adventures and don't want it linked to me personally and considering a £10 top up usually lasts me several months, I'll probably stick with it, despite the hike, especially as I bought a voucher last week!

[lillythesavage]

The difficulty with all these alternatives is that they have your credit card details and address, not so good if you want to remain discrete. I use 3 PAYG on my punting phone for my Seeking adventures and don't want it linked to me personally and considering a £10 top up usually lasts me several months, I'll probably stick with it, despite the hike, especially as I bought a voucher last week!

You can buy a 5 quid lebara payg voucher then buy your package using your available payg credit. The data is reduced to 1 gb though and I think you can auto renew this way too, just top up before the due date.

[Gordon Bennett]

Vodafone have changed their terms and conditions this week on their PAYG1 too. I liked that plan but I'm going to ditch it now.
I get the impression that it's getting increasingly difficult (or even impossible) to get an old-stlye PAYG deal where your tenner of credit lasted as long as you liked, subject to making a call/text once every 6 months.
All today's deals seem to revolve around 30-day "bundles" that need using each month. That's fair enough if you're a prolific punter but If you're an every-few-months punter like me it's a bit shit.....I just need a call-plan to make a couple of quick calls/texts every few months

[Discord]

I've got two phones, one for work as I'm self employed and another for personal use.  For the personal one I'm on 3 PAYG and I was unpleasantly surprised to receive the text about the upcoming price hike as well.  My work phone is also PAYG and with that I use 02.  I can confirm with this 02 phone that it's still only around 2p (possibly 3p) per text.  For that phone I top up with £10 and it lasts me 4-5 months as I only send texts predominantly and rarely call. 

[lillythesavage]

Vodafone have changed their terms and conditions this week on their PAYG1 too. I liked that plan but I'm going to ditch it now.
I get the impression that it's getting increasingly difficult (or even impossible) to get an old-stlye PAYG deal where your tenner of credit lasted as long as you liked, subject to making a call/text once every 6 months.
All today's deals seem to revolve around 30-day "bundles" that need using each month. That's fair enough if you're a prolific punter but If you're an every-few-months punter like me it's a bit shit.....I just need a call-plan to make a couple of quick calls/texts every few months

Payg is being phased out for lots of reasons, security being one of them. 5 quid is hardly the end of the world though, that is the way you have to look at it, That 100 international minutes is worth the fiver alone to me.

Soon I think the only way for secrecy will be bank accounts in different addresses, vehicles registered to different addresses, some are already doing that to avoid central London charges. Bit by bit freedom of choice is being eaten away.

[lillythesavage]

Vodafone have changed their terms and conditions this week on their PAYG1 too. I liked that plan but I'm going to ditch it now.
I get the impression that it's getting increasingly difficult (or even impossible) to get an old-stlye PAYG deal where your tenner of credit lasted as long as you liked, subject to making a call/text once every 6 months.
All today's deals seem to revolve around 30-day "bundles" that need using each month. That's fair enough if you're a prolific punter but If you're an every-few-months punter like me it's a bit shit.....I just need a call-plan to make a couple of quick calls/texts every few months

There is another problem I have come across, old phones are not 3g or 4g compatible and many new sims have minimum requirements.

[Sparta Prada]

The original Lebara deal came up during Black Friday, and was six months for £2.50. Thanks to Gordon Bennett as I took this up.

Lebara currently have pay monthly SIMs on 30 day contracts that are 6 months half price. A 2gb per month one is £2.50 per month for 6 months then £5 per month. That would seem to sort you out for next 6 months at least, £2.50 p/m is frankly negligible. You could even use it as a stop gap for 30/60 days until you source something else.

External Link/Members Only

[markballoon]

1pmobile.com does what it says on the tin.  Plus you have about 4 months to use the credit.

[timsussex]

Tesco Mobile use the O2 network so their network quality should be the same as O2.

No

O2 prioritise 1 O2 contract 2 O2 PAYG 3 Tesco etc

wont make any difference unless you are in a cell which has reached saturation when your calls wont get through - or even go to voicemail n some cases

[JayEZ2K]

Cheers all, for the input. I'm feeling a lot better after seeing all these options. I'm definitely leaving Three as soon as I have my new SIM card sorted. Glad to see I'm not alone in disliking five-fold rate hike by Three.

£10/month (£120/year) bundles provides a lot, but it's overkill for a punting-only phone. And I can put that annual expense towards a punt or two.
£5/month (£60/year) bundles is ok, but still provides way more than I need on my punting-only phone.
2.5/month (£30/year) for 1p mobile sounds right, but there's any issue with anonymous payment...

You mention 1p mobile and that's what i've currently got, they use the EE network so coverage is probably the best in the country.
1p per min for calls; 1p per text and 1p per Mb which can work out expensive if using a lot of data but still seems as good as you get on PAYG.

You link a debit / credit card to the phone and it automatically tops up a minimum of £10 every 4 months so basically £2.50/month however if your credit drops to a quid or 2 it then tops up as and when required so you don't run out of credit.

They also have a External Link/Members Only for simplicity. But the problem is the payment. I've topped up my previous PAYG sim cards anonymously using cash at Tesco. I don't want my punting phone linked to my bank account and real name.
Do you know if I can pay for 1p Mobile with a Paysafe Voucher or other anonymous payment method?

I've got two phones, one for work as I'm self employed and another for personal use.  For the personal one I'm on 3 PAYG and I was unpleasantly surprised to receive the text about the upcoming price hike as well.  My work phone is also PAYG and with that I use 02.  I can confirm with this 02 phone that it's still only around 2p (possibly 3p) per text.  For that phone I top up with £10 and it lasts me 4-5 months as I only send texts predominantly and rarely call.

Cheers. The O2 Classic Pay As You Go has the original rates of Three rates (3p/minute, 2p/text, 1p/MB). It requires a minimum top up of £10 every six months, but that's not bad.
Do you top up the O2 Classic PAYG anonymously with cash?

[webpunter]

It would appear that my tenner 'voodoofone' ain't the cheapest
CBA to port the number
And a tenner is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things
On the plus side i have found VF to be very reliable
No signal drop outs or problems

And the £3 IOU option is helpful
So occasionally, when i was 'properly punting active' [PPA], pre virus i would also do a standard tenner or fiver top up
Not a bundle
There is the IOU on this only i think
So if i forgot to renew the VF bundle i could still do calls texts tinternet

One tip i have is that when doing a top up then in addition to having the paper slip then also add to 'notes'
This is on an iPhone presume the same on android other etc
So when its time to top up & you cant find the piece of paper you have the info needed to hand
Saves hunting when time is short & the urge is high
I will buy a voucher [for cash obvs] in advance

[s0whatsnew?]

I've been with smarty about a year now.  30gb for £10 monthly makes it the best deal i can see.  No limitations.  Coverage/reliability seems fine, in urban areas anyway.  Haven't heard of any price hikes, touch wood.

[Steve2]

The problem with all of these MONTHLY CONTRACT ones is that they take away your anonymity which defeats the object of a punting phone

[Blackpool Rock]

Cheers all, for the input. I'm feeling a lot better after seeing all these options. I'm definitely leaving Three as soon as I have my new SIM card sorted. Glad to see I'm not alone in disliking five-fold rate hike by Three.

£10/month (£120/year) bundles provides a lot, but it's overkill for a punting-only phone. And I can put that annual expense towards a punt or two.
£5/month (£60/year) bundles is ok, but still provides way more than I need on my punting-only phone.
2.5/month (£30/year) for 1p mobile sounds right, but there's any issue with anonymous payment...
They also have a External Link/Members Only for simplicity. But the problem is the payment. I've topped up my previous PAYG sim cards anonymously using cash at Tesco. I don't want my punting phone linked to my bank account and real name.
Do you know if I can pay for 1p Mobile with a Paysafe Voucher or other anonymous payment method?

Cheers. The O2 Classic Pay As You Go has the original rates of Three rates (3p/minute, 2p/text, 1p/MB). It requires a minimum top up of £10 every six months, but that's not bad.
Do you top up the O2 Classic PAYG anonymously with cash?

Don't think so, just looked at my account and gone into my payment details looking to change the payment method and it brings up options for "Card" and Paypal

[lillythesavage]

The problem with all of these MONTHLY CONTRACT ones is that they take away your anonymity which defeats the object of a punting phone

Wrong, I already explained with lebara you can buy a 5 quid payg voucher top up with cash, text R1, I think but check, to 38885 and it transfers you to the bundle.
The penalty is 1gb of data instead of 2gb if you buy it direct. You still get 1000 minutes and 1000 texts and 100 international minutes to most popular countries. I have just yesterday switched from smarty, which was registered ,to Lebara using this method without registering anything.

If you have a use for International calls it is superb value, coverage is far superior to Smarty which uses the 3 network so I assume better than 3 too. You are never going to get caught out running out of credit unless you are calling whores for 30 plus minutes every day or texts unless you send 30 plus a day which is unlikely on a punting only phone.

For the paltry sum of 5 quid a month, not running out of credit mid call and chasing to buy a voucher, the international minutes, some data and being able to top up without registering has to be the best value on the market for a punting phone.

[chadpitt]

See this guide from MoneySavingExpert for cheapest pay as you go plans

External Link/Members Only

I wouldn't bother with a monthly plan if you're looking to remain anonymous.

[Gordon Bennett]

Wrong, I already explained with lebara you can buy a 5 quid payg voucher top up with cash, text R1, I think but check, to 38885 and it transfers you to the bundle.
The penalty is 1gb of data instead of 2gb if you buy it direct. You still get 1000 minutes and 1000 texts and 100 international minutes to most popular countries. I have just yesterday switched from smarty, which was registered ,to Lebara using this method without registering anything.

If you have a use for International calls it is superb value, coverage is far superior to Smarty which uses the 3 network so I assume better than 3 too. You are never going to get caught out running out of credit unless you are calling whores for 30 plus minutes every day or texts unless you send 30 plus a day which is unlikely on a punting only phone.

For the paltry sum of 5 quid a month, not running out of credit mid call and chasing to buy a voucher, the international minutes, some data and being able to top up without registering has to be the best value on the market for a punting phone.

Interesting thing with Lebara is you can age verify using a weird face recognition thing. Obviously you need a camera phone but you point it at your gob and it decides if you look over 18. Goes at great lengths to advise you that your image is not retained. I'm actually using Lebara as my provider on my main phone and it's all been very good.

[mrgluon]

Asda mobile seems the best bet if you're not going to use it that often. Texts are 4p but there is no requirement to top up every X months to keep your credit.

[lillythesavage]

Interesting thing with Lebara is you can age verify using a weird face recognition thing. Obviously you need a camera phone but you point it at your gob and it decides if you look over 18. Goes at great lengths to advise you that your image is not retained. I'm actually using Lebara as my provider on my main phone and it's all been very good.

I was using payg lebara but changed to Smarty, big mistake, left me stranded in Durham with no reception despite being in a town centre. Logged back onto lebara and it said the number was not recoverable and it was a bloody good number.

when I logged on it sent a text to the number, swapped my main phone to giff Gaff and tried topping up the payg with a fiver, worked so swapped the fiver to the bundle for my punting number. More calls and texts and data than I use, but two numbers, 100 international minutes for 14 quid a month seems fair to me.

[Blackpool Rock]

I was using payg lebara but changed to Smarty, big mistake, left me stranded in Durham with no reception despite being in a town centre. Logged back onto lebara and it said the number was not recoverable and it was a bloody good number.

when I logged on it sent a text to the number, swapped my main phone to giff Gaff and tried topping up the payg with a fiver, worked so swapped the fiver to the bundle for my punting number. More calls and texts and data than I use, but two numbers, 100 international minutes for 14 quid a month seems fair to me.

Fuck me this malarkey is starting to sound like a military operation just to get a bit of credit on a punting phone 

[george r]

 The O2 Classic Pay As You Go has the original rates of Three rates (3p/minute, 2p/text, 1p/MB). It requires a minimum top up of £10 every six months, but that's not bad.

still using that myself , not topped up for over 12 months though ? and still working ok 

[snaitram99]

Vodafone have changed their terms and conditions this week on their PAYG1 too. I liked that plan but I'm going to ditch it now.
I get the impression that it's getting increasingly difficult (or even impossible) to get an old-stlye PAYG deal where your tenner of credit lasted as long as you liked, subject to making a call/text once every 6 months.
All today's deals seem to revolve around 30-day "bundles" that need using each month. That's fair enough if you're a prolific punter but If you're an every-few-months punter like me it's a bit shit.....I just need a call-plan to make a couple of quick calls/texts every few months

Yes everything with Vodafone is geared to pushing you towards bundles now, renewing for £10 for 30 days, which I don't need or want on my punting phone (basic text and calls only). I am still on the old PAYG tariff which I think is called "Simply" and is 20p per text. Not cheap but service usually good. I haven't had any text notifying changes so assume it continues for the moment. PAYG 1 will now charge you £1 as soon as you use it for a text, I believe.
 Phone was bought second hand and is unregistered so anonymous as long as I top up with a voucher for cash in a shop, unless I commit a serious crime such as murder and they check CCTV. The only thing is they seem to be making this top-up method more difficult too, with endless circular menus.

[lillythesavage]

Yes everything with Vodafone is geared to pushing you towards bundles now, renewing for £10 for 30 days, which I don't need or want on my punting phone (basic text and calls only). I am still on the old PAYG tariff which I think is called "Simply" and is 20p per text. Not cheap but service usually good. I haven't had any text notifying changes so assume it continues for the moment. PAYG 1 will now charge you £1 as soon as you use it for a text, I believe.
 Phone was bought second hand and is unregistered so anonymous as long as I top up with a voucher for cash in a shop, unless I commit a serious crime such as murder and they check CCTV. The only thing is they seem to be making this top-up method more difficult too, with endless circular menus.

They are under pressure to make everything registered, the main users of burner phones and sims are not punters. The serious crimes you mention and crime networks are the main users and there is pressure to scrap burner sims.

In these days of computers and cameras following us around it will not be long before the phone companies lose the battle to keep burner revenue .

[webpunter]

With regards to crims using mobiles the rozzers just smashed a european network 'Encro Chat' 'EC'
External Link/Members Only
Reading elsewhere a bag of sand a month as the 'subscription'
No doubt paid in bitcoin / similar
EC was guaranteed to be totally anonymous [until the rozzers hacked it] & entering a certain pin code wiped the entire phone

It'll take a few years yet for the Govt to ban burners
They will be looking at the corporation tax paid on the profits of the mobile providers
Think the Govt have enuf to be going on with @ the mo without piling up more on their to-do list

The idea of having a system whereby burner phones are registered on purchase with ID is laughable
The Govt can't even keep hold of data they already have without wiping this [like 400,000 criminal records]
So Priti can be confident that waddling her very fat arse into the house of commons to explain the debacle is unlikely to cause her problems
The chances of such a scheme being secure [from hacking] is hilarious
There will be plenty of MPs / Govt officials / the police who have burners - for rent boys hookers extra marital relationships contacting their drug dealer etc - so can't see much support
Reck the Govt will pay lip service to the idea & kick the can down the road, so to write   

[lillythesavage]

With regards to crims using mobiles the rozzers just smashed a european network 'Encro Chat' 'EC'
External Link/Members Only
Reading elsewhere a bag of sand a month as the 'subscription'
No doubt paid in bitcoin / similar
EC was guaranteed to be totally anonymous [until the rozzers hacked it] & entering a certain pin code wiped the entire phone

It'll take a few years yet for the Govt to ban burners
They will be looking at the corporation tax paid on the profits of the mobile providers
Think the Govt have enuf to be going on with @ the mo without piling up more on their to-do list

The idea of having a system whereby burner phones are registered on purchase with ID is laughable
The Govt can't even keep hold of data they already have without wiping this [like 400,000 criminal records]
So Priti can be confident that waddling her very fat arse into the house of commons to explain the debacle is unlikely to cause her problems
The chances of such a scheme being secure [from hacking] is hilarious
There will be plenty of MPs / Govt officials / the police who have burners - for rent boys hookers extra marital relationships contacting their drug dealer etc - so can't see much support
Reck the Govt will pay lip service to the idea & kick the can down the road, so to write

Probably the rozzers paying another crim to crack that network but they did manage too, I think they found a large pallet of used notes too.

Thing is getting rid of burners is very easy, just stop the selling of sims and vouchers in shops, make everything online. Sure there still would be a black/grey market but in one swoop it can be done.

Think that could be why major crime networks tried the encryption, they are expecting more problems with burners and it is getting harder to keep topping up or swapping them.

They do not just swap sims, phones to, An impounded Audi Rs6 Avant a friend bought at auction had 38 new phone boxes under the rear floor, all empty and it took a week to get all the police markers from around the country removed from it.
The rozzers somehow did not find them which seems bloody ridiculous. There must have been some evidence there.

[webpunter]

The motor will no doubt have gone to auction after a POCA seizure
Hopefully in a different area
Can you imagine some crim sees whichever bloke has bought it smokin round in it
Its not that hard to look where the spare wheel would be
Imagine if 38 new iPhone / high end Samsungs in the boxes.  Re-fucking-sult
Straight onto eBay, well drip them out, with a few different style ads.  Thought they came with the motor !

They do not just swap sims, phones to, An impounded Audi Rs6 Avant a friend bought at auction had 38 new phone boxes under the rear floor, all empty and it took a week to get all the police markers from around the country removed from it.
The rozzers somehow did not find them which seems bloody ridiculous. There must have been some evidence there.

[JayEZ2K]

The idea of having a system whereby burner phones are registered on purchase with ID is laughable...
There will be plenty of MPs / Govt officials / the police who have burners - for rent boys hookers extra marital relationships contacting their drug dealer etc - so can't see much support...

I hope so. Just need to make sure our MPs are loyal followers and fans here. In the meantime, there are still a few PAYG sims I can purchase anonymously.

The O2 Classic Pay As You Go has the original rates of Three rates (3p/minute, 2p/text, 1p/MB). It requires a minimum top up of £10 every six months, but that's not bad.

still using that myself , not topped up for over 12 months though ? and still working ok 

Yeah, that was what I've decided on. I was trying to get the 1p Mobile, but I couldn't find a way to get it anonymously. So I'll go with the O2 Classic PAYG (3p/minute, 2p/text, 1p/MB), getting it with cash at the local shop.

[v3cqjdpi]

Thing I liked about the 3 deal was that I could go into a shop, pay £10 (cash) for a voucher and top up the phone.

Yes it is a smartphone, but location services are turned off and I've got a fake profile on it to keep it completely seperate from my civvy phone. I'm sure that with some in-depth digging a determined person could trace it back to me, but it's about as careful as I can be.

So I'd like to keep the ability to top up with cash and keep it completely unregistered. If it costs me a bit more for each text/call, then so be it. When I'm spending £100 on a WG every 2-3 months it's not that significant.

[Gordon Bennett]

I don't think that 02 plan is available anymore. They are all 30-day bundles now as far as I can tell. If you already have it they may run it as a legacy thing for a while but I suspect they'll boot you off it too soon enough.

[escortman]

Hi Guys purchased two 02 Classic Sims off ebay last week topped up both today . Confirmation text received from 02 confirming You're on Classic Pay As You Go.

JayEZ2K good thread 



 

[JayEZ2K]

Hi Guys purchased two 02 Classic Sims off ebay last week topped up both today . Confirmation text received from 02 confirming You're on Classic Pay As You Go.
JayEZ2K good thread 

Great work, I was thinking about that. How much did they cost? One issue is that they're honouring the O2 Classic PAYG plan for now, but they could discontinue it at any time.



As expected, my balance on Three which had lasted me for nearly a year was quickly eaten up following their ridiculous price hike. I couldn't even use my phone, so I looked everywhere for the O2 classic PAYG, but couldn't find it. Shops aren't selling them anymore. I thought about second-hand, but needed something right away. (Fuck you and your price-hike, Three.  )

I tried to get 1p mobile, but they wanted my name and bank card to purchase online. I just couldn't do that for a punting sim. I also purchased a Paysafe Voucher, but 1p Mobile would not accept it.     (Maybe I'll top-up my AW, but I'm not that happy with them at the moment either.)

So I ended up paying cash for both a Lebara sim (£1) and a £5 Lebara top-up. They require monthly top-ups which I'm not happy about, as it's inconvenient and the cost will increase to £60 per year. (I like to put every bit towards punting.) It's a 2GB plan with 1000 texts, 1000 minutes, and 2GB data, which is nice, yet way, way more than I'll ever need for a punting phone. I'll see how strict they are about the monthly top-up, or if they penalize me if I go over a few days.

[LLPunting]

Hi Guys purchased two 02 Classic Sims off ebay last week topped up both today . Confirmation text received from 02 confirming You're on Classic Pay As You Go.

JayEZ2K good thread 

Buying secondhand SIMs from Ebay?  When just above they mention how criminals are the main users of burner SIMs... And you're going to use this recycled SIM to organise punts?  Kinda tempting Plod to tap you up for using a "known" SIM.

[JayEZ2K]

Good point LL. I've found and ordered some unused O2 PAYG classic sim cards, which if correct might be unsold stock. Hopefully they can still be activated and used on their legacy policy.

On a related note, it was no big surprise to find out my civvie phone just ran out of credits today, also due to Three and their greedy price hike. I had to get another Lebara sim, and now for both phones I'm up to £120/year. So I might swap to an O2 Classis PAYG, at least just for my punting phone if it arrives unused.

It might not seem like much, but I try to keep my budget real tight, so I can be a bit more lax when it comes to punting. Plus I don't like the idea of paying more for something I don't want or need. Nor do I like paying more for the same thing.

[escortman]

LLPunting get you facts right sim was not second hand....I also found and ordered some unused O2 PAYG classic sim cards.

Spoke to 02 before i purchased they advised it was ok.