Your Mobile Phone Buying Guide

To use a mobile phone, you will need to register your handset with a network service provider. They will bill your calls and provide you with a customer care service.

Choosing your Network Operator

There are currently five main networks - 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone. Although there are virtual network operators, they use one of the five main network's airtime and offer their own unique tariffs. Almost all virtual networks, except for Telecom, are based on T-Mobile airtime.

Network Coverage

There's little choice between networks, since the five main service providers offer at least 98% coverage in the United Kingdom. OFCOM is the regulator for the telecommunications industry in the UK. To find out if any of the five networks cover your area, log onto their web site and consult the coverage map and postcode checker. There are some areas that are almost impossible to cover, especially in remote areas, for example, valleys and mountainsides.

Contract or Pre-Pay?

It depends on your talk time habits. Initially, pre-pay phones are an expensive option, since they are no longer available at subsided prices. But in the long term, this deal might offer good value for low to medium mobile users, for those who prefer a fixed monthly bill, or for those who can't get a credit rating.

An economical option is to buy a pre-paid SIM card separate from a handset, which comes with connection and includes some free airtime. You will require a handset in which to install this SIM card. If you already have one, great! If not, you could buy a mobile phone without a SIM card, as a gift for your loved ones – who would then have the choice of purchasing a pre-paid SIM card from their favourite network. (Click here for a list of the latest pre-pay SIM card deals)

If you opt for a contract deal, the handsets are sold at vastly subsided prices. However, you choose a tariff and commit to a contract (usually 12 months long) with a certain network. This way, the network operator is able to recover the cost of a discounted handset.

Tariffs

The best deal for you, is one suited to your calling habits.

Work out your own monthly talk time habit

peak time calls/video calls
off-peak calls/video calls
weekend calls/video calls
amount of text, picture and video messages

You may also need to evaluate your cross-network mobile calls (calls to phones on a different network). This is generally more expensive than calls on the same network. Ask your family members and close friends which mobile phone network they are registered to. If you discover they use a variety of networks, then consider selecting one of the cross-network tariffs.

Most tariffs include a quota of free call-minutes. Calls are free of charge, until you use up your allocated free minutes, at which point normal call-charges apply. The tariffs with lots of inclusive free calls are expensive, so you will have to balance the pros and cons against your monthly budget.

If you are a fan of sending text messages, some tariffs offer a free amount of text messages per month. You could end up paying a bundle for text or multimedia messaging on top of your tariff charges.

Mobile Phone's features

Many mobile phones have evolved into highly sophisticated devices, choosing your ideal phone can be daunting. Your decision should be based on your budget and selecting a handset that has the features you require.

The mobile phone you desire may not necessarily be available with the network and package you require. Whilst contract customers enjoy a wider choice of mobile phones, each network offers its own selection of handsets in boxed, pre-pay packages. Some online service providers offer free contract phones along with some throw-in freebies.

What are they? (also check out our mobile phone jargon buster)

WAP - Wireless Application Protocol is a technology that connects your mobile phone to the internet using cut-down, text-based sites. Latest WAP version is 2 but you can use mobile commerce with WAP 1.2.1 version.

Data Portability - There are a number of data ports available, enabling your handset to exchange data with a compatible device, such as another mobile phone, or your PC.

Infrared port - Enables wireless data transfer between two compatible mobile devices via infrared or IrDa port.
Bluetooth - Another wireless data transmission feature, but unlike Infrared, doesn't require to be lined up in order to transmit.
USB cable - Most mobile phones offer this capability.

SMS - Short Messaging Service. A text message can be sent, containing up to 160 characters per message. Some handsets have a concentrated SMS facility, enabling you to send more than one message at a time.

EMS - Enhanced Messaging Service. The ability to send and receive a combination of text, pictures, sounds, animations and ringtones.

MMS - Multimedia Messaging Service. With a MMS compatible handset, you can send and receive a combination of text, images, sound and video. It's a more advanced feature than SMS and EMS.

Mobile Java™ - This technology allows you to download games, applications, ringtones and logo from web sites.

Games - Many mobile phones come with pre-loaded games. However, Java-compatible mobile phones are capable of downloading additional games of your choice.

Ringtones - Some modern mobile phones contain complex ringtones such as polyphonic, where several sounds are heard instead of a single ring. Some phones are capable of downloading new ringtones. Or you can even record your own ringtone, such as your dog barking! “Link caller” ringtone, gives you the option of assigning certain callers in your phone book, with their own unique ringtone.

Voice Dial - Allows you to call someone in your phonebook by saying his or her name. You will need to store a previous recording of yourself saying the name, for it to work.

Dualband - A mobile with dual bandwidth frequency capability, which allows you to use your phone in Europe and a selection of other countries (USA not included).

Triband - Allows you to use your phone in the USA as well as Europe and other countries.

Quadband - Allows you to use your phone virtually anywhere in the World.

Boosted data speed

GPRS - General Package Radio Service, allows information to be sent and received at a faster rate - up to 28.8 kbps, through a permanent connection, rather than dial-up. Comparably, a normal data connection, GSM runs up to 9.6 kbps.

HSCSD – High-Speed, Circuit-Switched Data, boosts your data connection up to 28.8 kbps. HSCSD is currently only available on Orange network.

EDGE – 'Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution' had been introduced into GSM and later 3G networks to increase data transmission rate up to 236.8 kbit/s.

Visit our mobile phone jargon buster for more information.