Concern rises over mobile contracts Ofcom figures show
According to leading watchdog Ofcom, there is growing concern as figures released have showed that there is an increase in the number of customers with mobile phone contracts that are tied in for 18 months or 2 years.
Most iPhone customers are on at least an 18 month contract. These figures have indicated that a year ago just 5% of customers were on a two year contract. In the last three months of last year this figure has shot up dramatically to 42%.
This equates to an 8 fold increase, mainly due to the iPhone which does encourage customers to take out a two year contract. This can leave customers out of pocket if their device stops working before the two years is up or if they want to stay in touch with the latest devices on the market.
Generally to leave a contract is very costly with some consumers being faced with having to pay their mobile provider for every month they miss. For example is you were in a £35 per month contract for two years and wanted to leave after 18 months it would set you back £210. Source – telegraph.co.uk
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I completely agree and this is the biggest reason I haven’t upgraded my phone in several years.
Barring the care package from the network (which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it!) you’re better off footing the bill now and buying SIM free to put your existing SIM card in!
Take for example the Motorola Milestone, not out yet other than SIM Free for ~£400. You can almost guarantee a network will charge users £100 for it and then lock them into 18 months at £35+. Grand total £730! Even if you get it free you are tied into a £630 contract!