Mobile Network Comparison

Rejoice all ye iPhone and iPad users – Giffgaff have finally got round to producing their own micro-SIMs (you Nokia Lumia, HTC One X, Sony Xperia and Motorola Razr fans can let out a little cheer too).

After producing a fantastic infographic showing that the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 where both in the top 5 handsets used on Giffgaff, they decided it was about time to more proactively lure these users over. Previously, they had hosted a member-project called Microgaff than matched up new customers with existing members who owned SIM cutters. They would order SIM cards in advance, cut them down to micro-SIM size with a cutter and then post them out in lieu of Giffgaff. We even got involved here at Mobile Network Comparison and sent out our own professionally cut micro-SIMs by first class post absolutely free of charge.

Now, however, our top-rated network has produced their very own micro-SIMs. They were announced a few weeks ago but they’ve just started arriving on doormats today. Fresh after moving to a brand new state-of-the-art warehouse, the guys and girls at Giffgaff HQ and come up with a great new pop-out style of hybrid SIM card. Every SIM will be laser-cut (lasers are always cool) so that you can use it as a regular sized SIM card as usual but if you need a micro-SIM you can just pop it out.

See how it works for yourself:

So there will be no more fiddling with careful cutting and filing, buying expensive SIM cutters or going through third parties. Now you can order a Giffgaff micro-SIM directly and be sure that it will fit perfectly in your phone. So what are you waiting for? Check out more about how much cash you could save and if you’re moving to Giffgaff and need a micro-SIM or a regular SIM card, order your free hybrid micro-SIM today. And as an extra promotional bonus, if you order through our site you’ll get an extra £5 credit absolutely free 🙂

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Android was first released in Sepember 2008 by internet search engine giant, Google. The premise would be that all versions would be open source and available to any developers free but phone and tablet manufacturers had to pay for a licence to put the Android operating system on to their devices. The problem with Android is that there’s far too many versions and too many devices, some devices are high powered and some are very low powered, and sometimes the device manufacturers release a phone or tablet but don’t put out updates. meaning that the phone or tablet will stay on that version unless the network or phone manufacturers release official updates.

There is also a very thriving ROM development scene on forums such as Modaco, XDA, where developers release unofficial custom ROMs to work of specific phones and tablets, the custom ROMs often work better and are stripped down to the bare bones where operator logos and bloatware is removed freeing up the phone’s internal memory.

Android versions to date:

1.5 Cupcake (April 2009)
1.6 Donut (September 2009)
2.1 Eclair (October 2009)
2.2 Froyo (May 2010)
2.3 Gingerbread (December 2010)
3.1 Honeycomb (Tablets only) (February 2011)
4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich ( October 2011)

As you can see it was very fast paced. There were earlier versions such as 1.0 which was released on a specific device and wasn’t available generally.

Android is going toe-to-toe with other operating systems such as Apple’s iOS, but the latter is a lot more restricted. As with the iOS which has its App Store, Android also has an app store called Android Market which has just been renamed to Google Play. Unlike Apple’s apps market, most of the apps in the Google Play market are free with ads.

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Have you been surprised with a ridiculous mobile phone bill after returning from a trip to Europe? Do you think that the roaming charges your mobile network forces you to pay our way over the top? Well there is great news from the European Parliament which is expected to approve a new deal on EU roaming rules this May. If everything goes well, last year’s European commission proposal will come into force on 1 July 2012.

The new rules will introduce a price cap for wholesale and retail roaming costs that will be ratcheted down over the coming years. This will ensure that there is a limit on the price you have to pay when roaming abroad in the EU and will massively reduce phone bills for most people travelling in Europe. There will be more competition in the roaming market and the prices will steadily be coming down from the current high prices because of this.

Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice President for the Digital Agenda, said:

Consumers are fed up with being ripped off by high roaming charges. The new roaming deal gives us a long-term structural solution, with lower prices, more choice and a new smart approach for data and Internet browsing. The benefits will be felt in time for the summer break – and by summer 2014, people can shop around for the best deal.

Part of the deal will allow customers to pick and choose which mobile network they want to roam on when they enter a foreign country. This means that there will be more competition between the various providers to offer the lowest rates. Because the European Union has approach this problem from the ground up, the very core of the market will change which results in better prices for everyone. These rules will safeguard low prices for consumers until at least 30 June 2017.

The current price caps with VAT for consumers are €0.35 per minute for outgoing calls and €0.35 per minute or receive calls and send SMS messages. There is currently no cap at all on data roaming and with the rise of smart phones, this is easily most to blame for the ridiculous phone bills some people get after coming back from holiday.

After 1 July 2012, the roaming costs will start to come down significantly. Before VAT, SMS messages will be only €0.09 to send, incoming calls will be only be €0.08 per minute and outgoing calls will come down to just €0.29 per minute. And finally, there will be a cap on data roaming charges of €0.70 per MB.

By 1 July 2014, the mobile internet charge will be down to only €0.20 per MB and outgoing calls will fall to €0.19 per minute while incoming calls will be only €0.05 per minute. Texts will be a very reasonable €0.06 each. These rulings will go a long way to reducing bill shock when using smart phones abroad. Another new piece of legislation will mean that people travelling outside the EU will get a warning message when they’re nearing €50 of data downloads or a different preagreed level so that they don’t unexpectedly run up massive phone bills.

Please see the tables below for the full range of price caps over the next few years and pleased as know what you think about this new announcement.

Retail pricing (ex. VAT)

Wholesale pricing

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