In the UK it seems everyone old enough to walk now has a mobile phone! It doesn’t seem that long ago that these devices were only found in the world of successful businessmen. Now they are affordable to everyone.

This is great news for you because it means you can easily stay in touch when you are on the move, and can always get in contact with someone in an emergency.

Phone from home or a new phone?

Britain operates on a GSM network, so if your current mobile is European it will probably work in the UK either as a roaming service or with a UK SIM card. If you are coming from North America or parts of Asia, you will probably have a CDMA phone which will not work in Britain.

 It is likely that when you arrive in the UK, you will have a mobile phone already. If your phone is connected to a network in your home country you may be able to make and receive calls from it in Britain, but it’s likely to be quite expensive. If you intend to stay in the UK for a few months or more, buying a UK SIM card for your current phone or a new mobile connected to a UK network might be a cheaper and more practical option.

 When purchasing a phone, or deciding if you want your phone from home to be set up for use in the UK, you will need to decide whether you want a contract phone (where you are billed a monthly sum as well as the cost of your calls) or a pay as you go phone (where you pay for the handset, or use your hand-set from home, if you can, and then top up your credit whenever you want). There may be restrictions on getting a contract phone because you don’t have a financial history in the UK. The deals on contracts are changing all the time, but only consider these if you are staying in the UK for at least a year. The way this works is that you pay a monthly amount, and in return you get a free phone, and a certain number of calls and texts included each month.
 

A new SIM

Some phones may not be ‘SIM-free’ – which means you can only use the SIM card originally supplied with the phone. If this is the case, you need to get the handset unlocked. You can do this at mobile phone shops around the country. However, it is often cheaper to go to a local market where you can usually find a man who’ll do it for a tenner! (tenner = £10) Once you have done this, or if your phone is already SIM-free, you can then insert a new ‘Pay As You Go (PAYG)’ SIM card from any of the UK airtime providers and you are ready start making calls.

These SIM chips are available from various companies in the UK - but some offer better deals than others. You can buy them from mobile phone shops or, if you can wait a few days for it to come in the post, you can now get many of them free over the internet.

Have a look at the "Find a..." tab for a selection of providers.

UK Networks – some example deals and prices

 There are five main network providers in the UK and several ‘virtual’ providers that buy airtime from the main providers and then operate their own services.
Each network provider has its own outlets (=shops), where you can get special offers and deals on handsets as long as you connect to their network. There are also numerous shops (including some supermarkets) that sell deals with different networks.

Some networks offer free SIMs and there are almost always great deals to be had because the market is very competitive.

 

Example Network Provider 1 – August 2010

You get  free texts depending on how much you spend per month. These are then given to you to use the following month.

All examples are "pay as you go" plans.

1)
    * £10 for 300 free texts and music the following month
    * £20 for 600 free texts and music the following month
    * £30 for 1000 free texts and music  the following month

2)

    * £10 for 300 free texts and internet the following month
    * £20 for 600 free texts and internet the following month
    * £30 for unlimited free texts and internet the following month

3)

    * £10 for 100 evening and weekend minutes (any mobile)
    * £20 for 200 evening and weekend minutes (any mobile)
    * £30 for 300 evening and weekend minutes (any mobile)

4)

    regardless of what you top up:

    * call anyone, anytime, for 15p a minute to UK mobile phone numbers and landlines
    * 10p texts to any network at any time

Example Network Provider 2 – August 2010

You also get benefits depending how much you spend per month - and you get the choice of having free texts or free calls. You also get the free minutes/texts the same month rather than the following month.
 
Choose which plan suits you the best -
If you are a texter:

Spend:

    * £10-14  for 300 texts and 500mb Internet
    * £15-29  for 500 texts and 500mb Internet
    * £30 and more  for 1000 texts and 500mb Internet

Or if you are a talker:
Spend:

    * £10 -14  for 500 free minutes
    * £15-29  for 1000 free minutes
    * £30 and morte  for unlimited  free minutes

Once you have used your free minutes or texts, the charges are:

Calls cost 25p first 3 minutes and then 5p for the rest of the day.

Texts: 10p to any network.

Example Network Provider 3 – August 2010

    *  20p a minute (call to any UK mobile Network, standard landline and voicemail).

    *  10p a text   

    *  36p a picture message and 60p a video message

These are the standard call and text charges. This provider also have saving offers (e.g. free weekend calls with a special top up)

There are advantages of being with each of the above companies. If you use your phone to make calls regularly, the second example looks good because calls go down to 5p a minute after three minutes. But if you don’t call very often the first example deal means calls are never more than 15p a minute. The third example is the most expensive unless you only call people who are on the same network.

Have a look at the "Find a..." tab for a selection of providers.

By Matt Taylor and Jennie Musgrove

To be listed here click

USEFUL WORDS

mobile / cell phone
stay / keep in touch = to communicate with somebody
on the move = to be travelling from place to place
network = a group of mobile phone companies which are connected
handset = the telephone you hold in your hand
SIM card (Subscriber Identification Module) = a plastic card inside a mobile phone that stores information about the person it belongs to
credit = money that you put onto your phone (usually via a special telephone number) in order to make calls
deal = an agreement with particular conditions when you buy something
contract = a deal where you are billed a monthly sum as well as the cost of your calls
pay as you go = a deal where you pay for the handset and then top up your credit whenever you want
tariff = a list of fixed prices for different services
text (vb/n) = a short written message sent via a mobile phone
minutes = time you have available to spend talking on your mobile (may be part of a deal)
roaming = using your phone abroad / not in your home country

TEXT MESSAGE LANGUAGE

At the moment = atm
Be right back = brb
Because = cuz, bcuz, bcz, bcos, bc, cos, coz or bcoz
Best friend or boyfriend = bf or b/f
By the way = btw
Definitely = def
Don't worry = dw
Forever = 4eva or 4evr
For your information = fyi
Got to go = g2g or gtg
Homework = hw, hwk or hmwk
How are you = hru
I don't know = idk
I love you = ily, luv u, ilu, or luv ya
Just to let you know = jtlyk or j2luk
Laugh out loud = lol
Message (as in a text message) = msg
No problem = np
No thank you = nty or no ty
Please = plz or plez
See you/see you later = cya, cu, or cya/cu l8er/l8a
Something = sth, s/t, or sumthin
Sorry = sry, soz, or sori
Talk to you later = ttyl
Text = txt
Thanks = thanx, thx, or fnx
Tomorrow = tom, 2moz, 2moro, 2mrw or 2mara
What = wat, wut, wht, or wha