I’ll go along with that Zaphod 
Now boys, do settle down, we don’t want any fisticuffs at dawn 
Thank you Pesta, there’s no deed for a dawn rendezvous I’m sure.
For anyone who still has the desire, a link to a site comparing all PAYG tariffs:
https://www.mobilephonechecker.co.uk/payg-sims/
Ok since Zaphod persists with the comparison with FreedomPop it deserves some finer analysis. Just as with trying to compare motor insurance quotes, the devil is always in the detail. What is included and what’s not? What are the real costs?
FreedomPop Basic Mobile
Firstly it is important to note that this mobile service uses VoIP for its calls/texts and as such is only available to smartphone users. That’s because you need their app to use it (a bit like Skype and Whatsapp).
This to be honest makes a huge difference to any analysis because very clearly, a smartphone, loaded with apps and generally used as they are for emails, sat nav, facebook and other social networking WILL use a huge amount of data vs a regular old “unsmart” nokia type phone.
This matters.
The Basic Deal/Cost
FreedomPop offer 200 texts, 200 call mins and 200MB of data each month for “free”
If you should exceed that 200MB data limit you will be charged 1.5p per additional MB of data used.
A key problem is that there is no way to know how much data you have in fact used which leaves you wide open to those extra charges. You DO have the option of buying into their Usage Service which comes at 99p/month, then you can see how much you have used.
Thus any reasonable assessment of the true costs of FreedomPop must surely include this additional service charge of (£11.88 per year).
There is an initial joining fee of £7.97
and if you want to transfer your existing mobile number over there is an additional cost of £4.99
By comparison, 1pMobile has:
No joining fee
No charge to see your usage
No charge to transfer your existing number over
General Data Usage
FreedomPop’s free 200MB of data is, for a smartphone laughably tiny and woefully inadequate even for light smartphone users. This is important because you will be charged 1.5p/MB for all additional data.
The USWITCH website offers the following guidance on smartphone data usage:
Low data user - ‘I’ll use it every so often, to keep up with friends and interesting news’ - 1GB/month needed
Medium data user- 'I need it for my email, social media and for entertainment’ - 3GB/month needed
Heavy data user -‘I rely on my phone for both entertainment and work’ - 5GB/month needed
The WhistleOut website provides a more detailed picture of likely data usage:
https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones/Guides/Mobile-broadband-usage-guide
It highlights the HOURLY data usage for typical smartphone activities and the appropriate monthly data allowance needed for such activities thus:
(Remember FreedomPop only give 200MB free per month)
Online gaming - 3MB/hr - Data allowance 1GB
Podcasts - 60MB/hr - - Data allowance 2GB
Web Browsing - 60MB/hr - Data allowance 2GB
FaceTime - 85MB/hr - Data allowance 3GB
Facebook - 80MB/hr - Data allowance 3GB
Music Streaming - 150MB/hr - Data allowance 5GB
Snapchat - 160MB/hr - Data allowance 5GB
Facebook Video - 160MB/hr - Data allowance 5GB
YouTube - 300MB/hr - Data allowance 10GB
Netflix - 250MB/hr - Data allowance 10GB
Instagram - 720MB/hr - Data allowance 20GB
As can be seen, a “free” monthly allowance of just 200MB is ridiculously small for a smartphone. You would burn through that allowance with 2-3 hours of Facebooking or web browsing.
Let’s do the math for the “Low User” that Uswitch suggests would need 1GB (1000MB) of monthly data allowance.
FreedomPop would give you 200MB free and you would then need a further 800MB on top which would be charged at 1.5p per MB. So that’s a cost of £12 for that month.
Follow that through for a full year and that’s £144 in data charges.
With the 1pMobile service you are charged a flat rate of 1p/MB with no free allowance so the 1000MB each month would cost £10 which is £120 per year, thus cheaper than FreedomPop even with its “free” allowances.
If you look at the math for the Medium (3GB) and Heavy (5GB) users then the FreedomPop situation looks even worse.
With FreedomPop the Medium user would pay £504 in extra data charges per year
The heavy user would pay £864 per year.
With 1pMobile the Medium user would pay £360 per year
The heavy user would pay £600
Clearly though these are ridiculously huge numbers and no sane user of a smartphone would entertain this kind of tariff. They would instead choose a contract tariff or “proper” PAYG deal.
A key problem with all smartphones is that they are full of apps and the user has little control over what those apps do. When you boot up a PC or laptop, the first thing that happens is a plethora of software applications go automatically hunting the internet to check for updates and download them. The same will be true of smartphone apps.
They will be pinging the network repeatedly, handshaking and checking for updates all the time eating in to the 200MB data allowance.
Overall I personally see this “free” service from FreedomPop as somewhat of a “data trap”. The monthly data allowance is tiny for an average smartphone user and so the true rate that applies here is 1.5p/MB vs 1pMobile’s 1p/MB
I want to be fair here and thus need to comment on the texts and call minutes.
FreedomPop offer 200 free texts per month which is 2400 per year.
With 1pMobile charging 1p/text that would equate to £24
The same would apply for the 200 mins of calls, £24.
The problem however is that data usage. That’s the clincher here. The relatively tiny amount (200MB/mth) of allowance is not going to be enough for most smartphone users and that’s where the costs spiral upward and make the texts and calls a negligible issue.
And none of the above even mentions all of the other charges that irate customers are being landed with. Nor the plethora of free trials and “offers” that they are plagued with and which they must be sure to opt out of in a timely fashion to avoid charges.
In the final analysis, had this FreedomPop service been available to ordinary “non smartphone” users, I would have conceded that at face value the free 200 texts and call mins were cheaper than 1pMobile. The data issues would not have applied. Even so the multitude of angry customers and poor reviews would have kept me personally away from the company.
As it is, being a service for smartphone users, I genuinely don’t believe that in any reasonable analysis of usage, that FreedomPop would be cheaper than 1pMobile. 1.5p/MB is not cheaper than 1p/MB.
For it to be so you would have to be a smartphone owner who had paid significant money for a sim-free unlocked smartphone, who had pretty much removed all the apps on it and who basically treated it as an old “non smart” phone.
That just doesn’t seem a realistic scenario TBH.
I did try to resist responding, really I did.
Deception as an attempt to influence others though I disagree with.
No.
Have a look yourselves if you want; this for example was posted less than a month ago:
“Actually the cheapest was to get a SIM from them is to get one from Iceland food shop for 79P then activate it for a total of 1P.”
https://recombu.com/mobile/article/freedompop-review-uk#
(In comments after the review.)
Or how about one posted free - just activation of 99p to pay?
https://uk.freedompop.com/offer/uksoldoutsim?utm_source=TD&utm_medium=digidip+UK&utm_term=6b97bee24bf295a873ed7802644ff66a&utm_campaign=affiliate
From link here: https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/freedompop-sim-1p-including-delivery-200min200-texts200mb-2gb-data-ultd-texttalk-for-1-month-2769805
(Available on Amazon too.)
Yes, on FreedomPop’s own website (if you really would rather spend more, but why?) it is £4-95 plus postage plus activation - but savvy shoppers look for deals. 
Another example?
Most smartphones made in the last 5 years or so should work with the provider; their website says so clearly.
https://uk.support.freedompop.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3094
I don’t know what your idea of “significant money” for a new phone is, but you can get (just for example, mind) an Alcatel Pixie 3 sim free for under £27 delivered at Amazon, or under £30 (which includes a mandatory £10 top-up) at Carphone Warehouse.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alcatel-Pixi-3-5-Inch-SIM-Free-Smartphone/dp/B01AIL9CF4
That is new.
Given that Realist is suggesting (now, strangely) that most people will spend far more on usage, that is not what I would call “significant money” for a smartphone.
I could go through bit by bit but I won’t subject poor readers to more.
Again, I am certainly not promoting the use of FreedomPop; they are however cheaper than Realist’s beloved 1pMobile.
As I say in earlier posts, free is cheaper than a minimum £30 per annum.
I get the impression that Realist does not like that I found cheaper.
- A note if anyone is still interested*
The following video clearly explains how FreedomPop works together with both advantages and pitfalls of this provider and advice on using the service. Beware though; it is 16-odd minutes long.
Here’s a shorter but written review:
The following allows for comparison of PAYG plans/tariffs by your actual usage.:
https://www.mobilephonechecker.co.uk/payg-sims/
Have a “play”; you will see that Realist’s preferred option of 1p Mobile don’t come out as the cheapest option very often.
lol
That IS truly laughable because in all that long post of diversionary material, you stayed well away from the primary issue concerning FreedomPop which I clearly highlighted and provided figures for.
The issue of data usage.
FreedomPop is clearly NOT cheaper than 1pMobile because at the end of the day, you are going to be paying 1.5p per MB of data vs just 1p per MB from 1pMobile.
The 200MB that they give you free isn’t going to go anywhere. Most users will burn through that in a few hours !!!
I’m flattered really because your deliberate avoidance to tackle that fundamental issue really is admission of defeat in this comparison.
You’re wasting Your time Zaphod,when Realist gets the bit between His teeth,He never gives in…He just CAN’T be wrong You see…First it was ‘Big Pharma’…then ‘The Loony Labour Party’…now it’s this…just draw a line under it Kid as that’s what most of Us do 
Understood & I can now see that.
and you were doing so well . . .
http://www.over50sforum.com/picture.php?albumid=1147&pictureid=10736
Gawd, are you two still at it? :-p
Wow there is even a “Victims Of FreedomPop” Facebook page !
I hardly use my mobile, it’s only here for emergencies. Mt payg is with Tesco, and i’m sure i don’t need to pay every three months to keep it going.
There are 3 different PAYG tariffs with Tesco Mobile.
Rocket Pack Tarrif, Triple Credit Tariff and Lite Tariff.
The first 2 involve top ups with free credit and/or bundles thrown in much like any other mobile service. The standard rate charges however associated with these is awful:
Calls - 25p/min
Texts - 10p
Data - 10p/MB
Voicemail - 15p/min
Any bundle calls/texts/data only last a month and are then lost.
If you only use your mobile for emergencies I will assume you are on the Lite Tariff as Tesco describe it thus:
“Our pay as you go Lite tariff is great if you use your phone occasionally”
This has a cheaper standard tariff but nevertheless is is still far far more expensive than many other mobile services. The Lite Tariff is:
Calls - 8p/min
Texts - 4p
Data - 10p/MB
Voicemail - 8p/min
By comparison, 1pMobile’s charges are:
Calls - 1p/min
Texts - 1p
Data - 1p/MB
Big difference !
There is a minimum top up of £10 for Tesco Mobile.
All this said, the scenario of a purely “Emergency Phone” has been discussed in this thread. It is a unique scenario for which the tariff imo is a secondary issue. It’s not really what this thread is about. The most important requirement for any emergency mobile would be the network coverage. You would want the very best coverage wherever you happened to be, full signal strength at all times. The network which would deliver that, imo, would be Vodafone, unquestionably. The tariff is more expensive than Tesco and others, but since you won’t be using the phone except for that emergency then it hardly matters.
I received today the mobile my son sent to replace my Doro flip phone which stopped working. Its actually his partners phone as she is supplied one by her employers and is allowed to keep the old one when they update the company phones.
I was really surprised as its a Samsung Galaxy 6.
I ordered a 1p a minute sim and have now put that into the cheap unlocked mobile I was using while waiting a couple of weeks for the Samsung, so now I’ve got the cheap rate calls when I phone out. Everything with the new sim went smoothly as soon as I had connected to the new chat network.
Thank you Realist for the tip off about the cheap 1p network.
Welcome MC
Since you have (I assume) a smart phone, just be mindful of any data usage from the various apps on the phone. I don’t use a smart phone so can’t help much but I’d be looking at every app to see if there are any settings that allow you to, for example, disable auto updates and the like.
I still have over £5 of my original £10 topup since I started with 1pMobile and I text my wife every day. 
I haven’t read all the posts on this thread, but if someone wants a really really simple monthly payment, take a look at Giffgaff. They call their monthly deals “goody bags”…I think they’re brilliant.
Oh, if you sign up, please get in touch first, as we could both share the introduction incentive.
This is a thread devoted to PAYG mobile tariffs Lindy not monthly contract tariffs which are a completely different ball game.
Giffgaff’s PAYG service is horribly expensive compared to 1pMobile.
Giffgaff: Calls 5p/min - Texts 5p each - Data 5p/Mb
1pMobile: Calls 1p/min - Texts 1p each - Data 1p/MB
Giffgaff “Goodie Bags” simply turn a PAYG service into a Pay Monthly service so they are not comparable.
1pMobile remains the cheapest PAYG service at present as far as I can determine. The only commitment is a top up of at least £10 every 4 months, so £30 per year total.