Yer 'aving a laugh, ain'tcha?

I am toying with the idea of changing mobile phone company.

I've had a mobile since 1995, when we were a show-off élite, and being the slave to technology I am, I have upgraded far more times than is strictly necessary. But it's not the urge to upgrade that has got me going this time. No, for once, I am willing to hold on to my handset for a while longer.

When I first signed up to microwave my brane at regular intervals, there was really only a choice of Vodafone or BT Cellnet if you wanted a decent chance of getting a signal outside of a major city. The other providers were either yet to launch or staunchly South-East only. It is a sign of how things change that BT Cellnet was the major provider with Vodafone some distance back in second place. The others were also-rans.

I ended up with BT Cellnet simply because they allowed roaming in Europe without a hefty £250 down payment, and overall I have been happy with my choice, despite having to buy a Vodafone pay-as-you-go sim card for my old handset for use in Wales. Very little works in Wales.

But over the years, BT Cellnet declined in the ratings and been bought out by O2, dropping to number four while Voda has gone from strength to strength. For those of us who stayed with them though, there has been a sequence of loyalty schemes. Currently I get a 20% discount on the line rental. That's worth about a fiver a month.

I received a letter from them yesterday saying that they have reorganised their loyalty scheme and will no longer offer the 20% discount. Instead I can have a further 25 free SMS texts a month, or 10% off international calls, or 5% off call charges. Now for someone who amasses text allowances - I only use about half my inclusive monthly allowance as it is. Five percent off call charges sounds attractive except that as part of my current plan I get 200 minutes to use anytime to any domestic provider mobile or land line every month. Of these I tend to use 150 or so. I currently have 800 minutes carried forward, so I have to use my phone for over 13 hours in the next month before I benefit from a reduced rate on the additional minutes. As to international calls from the UK to somewhere else. On a mobile? Are they insane?

So O2 effectively are proposing to reward my loyalty by charging me an additional fiver or so every month.

I should cocoa.

Yer 'aving a laugh, ain'tcha?

I am toying with the idea of changing mobile phone company.

I've had a mobile since 1995, when we were a show-off élite, and being the slave to technology I am, I have upgraded far more times than is strictly necessary. But it's not the urge to upgrade that has got me going this time. No, for once, I am willing to hold on to my handset for a while longer.

When I first signed up to microwave my brane at regular intervals, there was really only a choice of Vodafone or BT Cellnet if you wanted a decent chance of getting a signal outside of a major city. The other providers were either yet to launch or staunchly South-East only. It is a sign of how things change that BT Cellnet was the major provider with Vodafone some distance back in second place. The others were also-rans.

I ended up with BT Cellnet simply because they allowed roaming in Europe without a hefty £250 down payment, and overall I have been happy with my choice, despite having to buy a Vodafone pay-as-you-go sim card for my old handset for use in Wales. Very little works in Wales.

But over the years, BT Cellnet declined in the ratings and been bought out by O2, dropping to number four while Voda has gone from strength to strength. For those of us who stayed with them though, there has been a sequence of loyalty schemes. Currently I get a 20% discount on the line rental. That's worth about a fiver a month.

I received a letter from them yesterday saying that they have reorganised their loyalty scheme and will no longer offer the 20% discount. Instead I can have a further 25 free SMS texts a month, or 10% off international calls, or 5% off call charges. Now for someone who amasses text allowances - I only use about half my inclusive monthly allowance as it is. Five percent off call charges sounds attractive except that as part of my current plan I get 200 minutes to use anytime to any domestic provider mobile or land line every month. Of these I tend to use 150 or so. I currently have 800 minutes carried forward, so I have to use my phone for over 13 hours in the next month before I benefit from a reduced rate on the additional minutes. As to international calls from the UK to somewhere else. On a mobile? Are they insane?

So O2 effectively are proposing to reward my loyalty by charging me an additional fiver or so every month.

I should cocoa.