Mobile Phone Deals, Latest Mobile Phone News and Reviews

One of the leading High Street mobile phone retailers, Phones4U has been investigated by Ofcom after a spate of complaints to Trading Standards. There were more than 2000 complaints in a two month period, prompting the Ofcom investigation.

The investigation, which has lasted for nearly six months, concluded earlier this week and found that Phones4U had breached consumer laws when selling its mobile phone contracts. This included employees giving bad advice to customers about the phone contracts and failing to refund or replace faulty handsets.

Phones4U, which has over 400 stores in the UK, has changed its phone returns policy and numerous sales practices since the investigation; it has also implemented new changes to its staff training.

Ofcom said that Phones4U had given their full cooperation during the inquiry, and a statement released by Phones4U said, “Phones 4u notes the Ofcom announcement and is pleased that the investigation has reached a satisfactory outcome following a constructive and collaborative process.”

Mobile phone operators have started to offer their customers the choice of a reduced tariff plan or an upgrade mobile phone as part of their contract renewals.

It is hoped that customers who are happy with their current handsets will choose the reduced tariffs instead of a new device, meaning that the mobile operators will save money on new handsets (which they heavily subsidise) and also help their customers save during the credit crunch.

Currently both O2 and T-mobile are offering the new deal, which could mean a saving of up to £15 a month for customers who choose to keep their current mobile phone and renew their contract. Both firms are keen to point out that there is still the option to upgrade handsets if the customer wishes.

This new plan may be picked up by the other mobile phone operators, with the whole industry making a major switch towards longer 18 month contracts to retain customers.

BT has announced two new mobile broadband tariffs designed especially for small businesses. The two new tariffs come under BT’s Business Broadband option 2 and 3. BT Business Broadband also offers free connection with the two tariffs, via a USB stick which uses Vodafone’s 3G network.

Both broadband options are based on a 24 month contract, with option 2 costing £29.99 a month and option 3 a bit more at £40.50 a month.

Option 2 is limited to 1GB of data usage a month, with 2000 minutes of BT Openzone access. Option 3 has a 3GB data limit and 4000 minutes of BT Openzone minutes. If the data usage for the month is reached, BT will charge an additional 10p per megabyte, but stated that customers will be notified if they are near their limit.

BT has defended their low data usage limits by saying that mobile broadband use should not be as heavy as standard connection usage.

Still one of the most popular Blackberry devices on the market, due to its advanced features and compact size, the Blackberry Pearl 8120 is available in a range of colours including Pink. The Blackberry Pearl 8120 Pink mobile phone offers users a variety of features in a compact form.  This handy little smart-phone helps to keep users organized while providing a variety of multimedia options as well.

Users of the Blackberry 8120 will be happy to know that the phone features built-in Wi-Fi in the form of 802.11b/g.  This enables the user to browse the internet and send emails from a device that has access to a compatible hotspot but does not have a good signal on the phone.

Most smart-phones have typically been bulkier devices that can be difficult for users to carry around.  The Blackberry Pearl 8120 changes all that with its compact design.  Users can enjoy a device that is only 107mm long by 50mm wide and a surprising 14mm thick.  The device also only weighs 91 grams to really enhance its portability.

The Blackberry 8120 Pink will also provide users with 4 hours of talk time and up to 15 days on standby.  The mobile phone comes with 64 megabytes of flash memory but users can take advantage of the microSD expansion slot that will expand the device’s memory up to 2 gigabytes.

Many Blackberry smart-phones do not offer integrated cameras but the Pearl 8120 has the added bonus of providing users with a camera.  This camera also has a 5x digital zoom and flash to improve picture quality.  It is also capable of capturing video with its built in camera helping to add to the device’s fun.

A recent survey into how much mobile phone user’s pay has reported the users are overpaying by a whopping £8 billion a year. This is due to people not checking the terms and conditions of their packages and not shopping around for the best deal to suit their needs.

There are a number of ways that you can cut the cost of your phone bills, and the first thing to do is look at how often you use your phone and for what e.g. calls, texts or internet. Once you have figured out how often you use your phone you can then decide whether to have a pay as you go mobile or a monthly contract.

There are advantages and disadvantages of both agreements. The advantages of pay as you go are that you only pay for what you use, and you are not fixed to a contract. The disadvantages are that the minutes and texts you use can be more expensive than a monthly contract, you have to top up the credit when you run out and a handset is not provided so you have to buy one yourself.

The plus points of having a pay monthly contract are that you get minutes and texts bundled in, you will always be able to use your phone as the credit never runs out and the handset is heavily subsidised or free. There are some disadvantages though; you have a fixed contract for 12 or 18 months and minutes and texts that you don’t use, you still paid for.

Searching around is still the best way of finding the deal to suit you, as different networks offer totally different packages.