are O2 tariffs competitive ?

[Anonymous]

As a long time SIM only user of mobiles on a monthly rolling contract I'm amazed how uncompetitive the UK market is ( just look at the cost of calls/contracts on China Mobile and weep) and that's before the EE feeding frenzy and 4G hangover.

A little while ago on Simplicity ( 2008 ?) I was paying O2 some £30 pcm for unlimited data and 1200 or was it 1500 minutes a month & texts which I never used. Now they are charging me £18.50 pcm, for 600 minutes, 100MB data ( yes 100!) and texts that I dont use. If I want to renew thay want to stiff me with another £2 pcm to change the data allowance from 100MB to 500MB. Its not happening.

Simplicity charges have crept up & up, you now even have a 12 month Simplicity contract - go figure. What's flexible about a 12 month contract ?

So I look at the tariff posted by the O2 reseller Tesco Mobile ( who dont use those rip-off 0844 numbers btw). SIM only 500 minutes, unlimited texts, 1GB data is £12.50pcm on a one month rolling contract; on a twelve month contract for £12.50 the minutes are increased to 750.

Why don't O2 want to retain their customers ? Customer retention is surely the name of the game. PAC code here I come.

M&C

[sheepdog]

Just my point of view. These countries haven't had to invest in producing the infrastructure. It has been the West who have designed and built leaving manufacturing to the East. As they can basically buy an off-the-shelf system, they're able to offer a cheaper rate proportional to the population of the country. Their cities dwarf ours by some considerable number so they don't have to be too concerned with volume loss. 

So yes, extrapolating what I'm saying, we're paying for someone else's network prices  I guess they won't have the bureaucracy that we have to endure either.