Best prepaid plan for iPhone 4 in the UK (6mo)

[kyjaotkb]

Hi everyone. I guess the question has been asked a thousand times but this is, I guess, a fast changing topic. And I'm sure some fine friends from across the Channel can provide me with the best advice.

So here is the thing. I'm French and my girlfriend will be moving from Paris to London for a 6 month internship next Tuesday.

We are talkative folks so first thing she'll do in London will be getting a micro-SIM for her unlocked iPhone 4. The purpose of that iPhone will be:
- giving calls in the UK (to colleagues, local friends on their mobiles...)
- calling to France - but not too often since we'll mainly rely on Skype
- using a good deal of 3G data (1-2GB min per month) to Skype, get around in London using Maps and TfL, check e-mail and, cherry on the cake (but not a dealbreaker), provide the occasional BT/Wifi hotspot to her MBA (outside the Olympic area that is ).

So for 6 months I guess she can't commit to a 12 or 24mo plan. She'll have to rely on prepaid - correct me if I'm wrong.

My question is, what is the best value money (as little as possible) can bring for those uses?

I lived in London 3 years ago, but that was before I got an iPhone and I was more or less happy with a java enabled Skypephone on Three. Things have changed I guess...

Many thanks in advance for your help - happy Sunday to everyone.
kyjaotkb

 

[Catdogchicken]

Three (3) PAYG £15 a month, unlimited data, 3000 SMS, 300 minutes - no brainer.

 

[DefBref]

Three (3) PAYG £15 a month, unlimited data, 3000 SMS, 300 minutes - no brainer.

+1 for your data usage there is nothing else that comes close for such a good price.

 

[nickchallis92]

Catdogchicken is spot on. Three's data speeds are phenomenal too

 

[Tobias Funke]

Giff Gaff do unlimited texts, unlimited internet and 250 Mins for £10 a month.

I have no idea how the network compares to 3 but its on o2 so I would imagine its good.

I have been trying to decide which to try 1st.

3's deal or Giff Gaffs.

 

[Holmes093]

Three (3) PAYG £15 a month, unlimited data, 3000 SMS, 300 minutes - no brainer.

^this

I am with 3 and their coverage is great, although I do live in London so good coverage is expected.

 

[cinek]

Three (3) PAYG £15 a month, unlimited data, 3000 SMS, 300 minutes - no brainer.

^this - + 3UK doesn't cap the internet at 1mb like t-mobile etc
in some places I get 8 - 9mb

 

[bandofbrothers]

Problem with giff gaff is its reliability !

Many are abusing its unlimited data and tethering against gift gaffs rules.

I use 02 and they had recent coverage issues due to a network issue !

You could look at sim only contracts which are rolling from month to month !

 

[celesa]

I am French as well and I advise you to choose Three (I was looking for a similar plan today as well as I found the 500mb limit with T-mobile just ridiculous).

As said before, with 3, you have 300 minutes, 3000 texts and unlimited data for £15 which is very cheap. Apparently, no fairuse. Coverage is not amazing but OK in my area.

For calls in France, when Viber does not work, I use a very useful iPhone application that makes you able to call abroad for cheap prices. It is called Localphone. You just have to add credit to your account, then choose the person you want to call and it automatically calls generated a local number - based on the country you live in - that redirects your call to the recipient. Then, you just pay a national communication + the credit on your localphone account, which is around 2,4p / minute to France (on a mobile). Even cheaper on a landline.

 

[nickchallis92]

I get 13mpbs download speeds here in London on Three

 

[kyjaotkb]

Thanks very much everyone for your excellent and fast response. Three seems to be the obvious choice! Will check viber and localphone as well. Cheers!

 

[yegon]

Three are great.

I have the £25 One Plan monthly rolling that adds tethering to the £15 plan. I would imagine you could probably get away with tethering on the cheaper plan, but I plough through about 10gb+ a month tethering so I think they may possibly bust me. I've no qualms paying the £25 tbh, I was previously on an o2 contract, slower, more expensive, worse coverage, urgh!

It really is quite liberating having fast (though admittedly not LTE fast) truly unlimited data on your phone. I read about about the charges and conditions US residents have to suffer and puke a little, they seem to be utterly shafted. That's not an anti-US statement, it's an anti-US carrier statement.

 

[Kebabselector]

Giff Gaff do unlimited texts, unlimited internet and 250 Mins for £10 a month.

I have no idea how the network compares to 3 but its on o2 so I would imagine its good.

I have been trying to decide which to try 1st.

3's deal or Giff Gaffs.

I hate 3, but sadly the Giff Gaff deal is a no go for me as they don't allow tethering.

 

[DKatri]

Giff Gaff do unlimited texts, unlimited internet and 250 Mins for £10 a month.

I have no idea how the network compares to 3 but its on o2 so I would imagine its good.

I have been trying to decide which to try 1st.

3's deal or Giff Gaffs.

My friend has just switched to gift gaff on his iPhone 4, he really likes it. The price is pretty good and from what he said the signal is fine (he used to be on O2 so hasn't noticed a difference)

 

[Tobias Funke]

I hate 3, but sadly the Giff Gaff deal is a no go for me as they don't allow tethering.

3 only allow tethering on the £25 a month deal.

But this is still great value compared to other providers!

 

[bandofbrothers]

You coukd Jailbreak and use the tweak 'tether me' as a workaround !

 

[Crazy Badger]

Another +1 for giffgaff

 

[CASLondon]

GiffGaff, its a no brainer

Moneysavingexpert called this the cheapest way to run an iphone if you own the handset.

10 pound prepaid per month, unlimited data and I never use the 220 minutes and texts that come with this per month. I'm on it, the network is 02
but the data savings are pretty significant

 

[SueG]

another +1 for giffgaff