By Holly, Mozillion Team
It’s one of the easiest ways to save money on your mobile phone bill
An illuminating survey has concluded that SIM only plans are now the most popular type of mobile plan in the UK, overtaking the traditional ‘mobile phone contract deal’ where a phone is included in the cost of the plan and paid off monthly over the contract.
The research, conducted by mobile industry gurus CCS Insight, shows that a variety of factors have contributed to this SIM Only sales surge. These include customers not feeling the need to upgrade the phone they currently have, the opportunity to now purchase refurbished or preowned phones outright for a lot less, fewer phones now being locked to a network, plus the emergence of new sales channels and value MVNOs (mobile virtual network operator) such as Smarty, Voxi and GiffGaff.
During a cost of living crisis, customers start to get a lot more forensic about which contracts to cancel altogether (do you really need that many TV channels?) or whether they can get the same, or close to the same benefits, for a lot less.
Given SIM Only plans start from as little as £2.50 a month, it’s no wonder UK consumers are realising it’s an easy way to slash their monthly outgoings.
Upgrading your phone when renewing your contract with a mobile operator used to be an extremely popular way of the network hanging onto a high monthly bill as well as the customer themselves, but over the years, more people have started to realise that maybe there is another way and most of the time, it is more cost effective.
Millions of people in the UK are still paying way more each month than they need to, often when they are actually out of contract but aren’t aware of it. Mozillion recently spoke to a customer who had continued paying their network for an iPhone 8 Plus (and some minutes, texts and data), two years after the phone contract had ended, costing them an extra £800!
A SIM only deal basically means that you are only paying for the network service, not the phone and it works out considerably cheaper. Plus, you can avoid long contracts by choosing a rolling 30 day plan which are sometimes just as good value than their 12-24 month counterparts.
This then frees you up to either buy the phone you want elsewhere, hang onto the one you have for a while longer or to sell your old one and use the money towards a higher spec, refurbished phone which can work out hundreds of pounds cheaper than buying a new one.
As they say in the automobile industry, a new car loses significant value the second it is driven off of the forecourt which is why it is a lot more cost efficient for a customer to buy one that isn’t totally brand new, but may as well be. The same is true for mobile phones.
CCS Insight’s director of consumer and connectivity commented that:
“People are not taking annual prices lying down. Eight per cent ditched their operator altogether. With many plan prices set to surge by 14 per cent, operators should brace themselves for backlash. Long-term growth of the online channel continued, but at the expense of retail stores. More than half of survey participants bought their current mobile phone online, up from 47 per cent in 2018”
The survey also revealed that momentum for the preowned phone market was growing exponentially. In fact, almost half of the people surveyed had sold or part-exchanged a used mobile phone, with over half saying they would consider buying a refurbished phone next time, with the leading motivation being better value for money.
Want to reduce your phone bill? Check out Mozillion’s SIM only deals, starting at just £2.50 a month.