UK: Tesco Mobile new SIM-only tariff
By Ben Robinson on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 1:37 PM PST In UK Retail
Tesco Mobile has joined the SIM-only contract wars (well they are not really wars, but, it could trigger some heavy duty price-cutting) today, and will also introduce a flat rate prepay tariff soon, reports Mobile News.
Tesco contract customers paying £15 a month will receive bonus credit of £45 giving them £60 credit. The £20 tariff gives customers £80 worth of credit.The prepay offer will be available from October 27, giving customers spending £10 a month on credit a further £10 bonus airtime or £30 bonus airtime when topping up £15. Calls to UK mobiles and landlines are charged at 20p per minute and 10p a text.
Apparently it will be easy to move between contract and prepay (always good), and much like would expect from a Supermarket, they should be good value compared with anything else on the market.
I recently moved on to a SIM-only tariff, on the basis that I’ll get my devices as and when I want, not when the network deems appropriate – the tariff is roughly twice as cheap as a “with device” tariff, and there is no lock-in. The question now is: which device to buy next!!!
Check out Tesco Mobile here.
[Via: Mobile News]
I don’t get it, this isn’t really the same as the other sim only offers out there as this seems to be more PAYG than a 30 day contract sim?
What Tesco seems to be doing is copying the other SIM Only providers but at the same time trying to offer something different. Doesn’t seem appealing and I don’t think it will take off.
Tesco seem to always be one step behind all the other mobile providers, this doesnt help as customers are always going to be a bit wary of buying a mobile from a supermarket rather than a company that purely sells mobile phone contracts
The Sim Only market seems to grow and grow. In The Netherlands the Sim Only market is very competitive.
Its a rather bold move by Tesco in my opinion, but since they seem to be selling everything under the sun, it wouldnt surprise me if they were successful.
Funny how so many people are called SIM these days eh?
The crisis will help sim only to grow more and more.
Nearly a year on and I haven’t heard a great deal more about the Tesco SIM only offerings, I think their marketing for this product is wrong and may be misleading. On their site they market this as a pay monthly contract, which may lead consumers to assume it’s a standard contract.
I guess as the Tesco mobile network runs with O2 they can’t be seen to be offering the same tariffs and product types.
agree – don’t think tesco are going to be a major player in the sim only market!
The market for SIM Only is very competitive and will only get worse. This is good news for consumers especially as SIM Only deals are 30 day plans so one can change as often as they like with freedom and keep the same mobile number. As for Tesco they will come up with something more competitive, this can be assured.
Tesco’s free sim card offer is outstanding as well. Giving triple credit for £15 and £20 top-ups. Well worth a look.