First impressions are good (BT Cellnet Tariffs)

Member Name: MichaelR

Product:	BT Cellnet Tariffs
Date:	28/01/01 (10 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free calls. Low monthly line rental.

Disadvantages: High cost of calls to other networks

Well, I have been with BT Cellnet for just over a month, so perhaps I have not had enough time to form a full opinion yet, but I have to say that my first opinions are good.

I am on a contract with BT Cellnet, and I chose to go this route for three main reasons:

1 - I got my phone for free, rather than paying the £100 that it would have cost me to get the phone I wanted on Pay as You Go.

2 - I thought that having 200 inclusive minutes per month represented good value for money.

3 - I didn't want the inconvenience of having to top up my phone all the time. I wanted to be able to make calls when I wanted, without worrying about whether or not I was going to run out of credit.

The main reason for me actually choosing Cellnet over any other network is quite simply that it is the cheapest.

Why would anyone want to pay more than they have to for their calls?

BT Cellnet has the lowest call charges of any mobile operator (at least this is what I found after some research)

I pay only 2p per minute for off-peak calls to land lines and BT Cellnet mobiles.

At peak times I pay 36p, but this is not really an issue as I don't often use my mobile during the day. I'm an off-peak person! (that applies to Internet and land line use too)

Mobile Internet access costs 10p a minute at all times. This is high, but then it is on all networks, and besides, I get 500 free minutes on WAP per month until the end of March, and after that I can include it in my call allowance.

The only thing I object to is the high cost of calling other networks, and the fact that this can not be included in the call allowance. Luckily, most of my friends are on Cellnet anyway, but I don't go calling those on Vodafone much.... I'm not that keen to spend 50p peak or 35p off peak per minute....

This complaint could be levelled against other networks too though, it's not just an issue w
ith Cellnet, and you have to remember that the network you are on is paying the network you are calling, and these charges have to be recovered somehow, so ALL mobile operators are to blame for this.

I am on the My Time Net 200 tariff, which as I said gives me 200 free off-peak minutes per month, which can be used to phone landlines, BT Cellnet mobiles, voicemail, or to connect to the mobile internet.

For me, this is great, as it allows me to keep in touch with people back home for free, rather than running up a huge phone bill on my landline.

I also, in addition to this, get 500 free minutes per month of mobile internet use for my first three months.

I also got free connection.

I think that at only £11.99 per month, the service represents excellent value for money.

Now, just consider how much I am saving here - free mobile, that's an immediate £100 saving. I'm paying £11.99 line rental per month for 12 months, so that's a loss of £143.88.... so I'm now £43.88 down.... but, I get £50 cash back after 6 months (and another £50 if I remain connected for 18 months) so I'm now £6.12 ahead.

I also get a total of 2400 free minutes over the year. Let's assume I use all that for voice calls - that represents £48 (if I used it all for mobile internet, it would represent £240) so I am now £54.12 better off. I also get 1500 (in total) free minutes on WAP, that represents £150 if I use it all (I do use WAP heavily, but not THAT heavily) so I could be up to £204.12 better off than if I was on a prepay package.

I don't have to spend a minimum amount each month, and I don't have the hassle of topping up.

For me, this tariff and this network are as close to perfect as you can get right now.

If your usage pattern differs from mine, then it may be a different story, but I think that in most cases, this is definitely the way to go.

If you use WAP - then you
should definitely choose a BT Cellnet contract over anything else. You will save yourself a hell of a lot of money.

Finally, I just want to say that I am happy that Cellnet has a simple peak / off-peak policy rather than that used my other mobile operators - especially Vodafone.

Vodafone operates different rates of off-peak, depending on the time of day as well as whether it's a weekday or weekend. They have peak day, peak weekend, off-peak day and off-peak weekend. Just another excuse to over-charge their customers if you ask me. (Their call charges are also amongst the highest of any network)

With Cellnet, it's peak from 8AM - 7PM weekdays, and off-peak at all other times. Just like BT landlines. (except that off-peak starts an hour earlier on weekdays on BT landlines)

This means that it's off-peak for a lot more time, and there is much less confusion.

Summary: