Text Mad

Generally text at 10p a go is the cheapest way to use UK PAYG phones -- that's twice the cost of a 5 minute landline voice call.

The mobile phone companies all rely on ultra-confusing tarrifs and linking the supply of hardware to the supply of service, disguising the cost of both.

Their latest answer to a saturated market is to offer PAYG phones for next to nothing (in one recent case free, but frequently for as little at £14.99 including £10 airtime).

It's a start -- but in the wrong direction.

The hardware needs to be sold separately at realistic prices by independent retailers. The phone companies will have to be directed to produce transparent tarrifs -- which actually reflect the cost of providing the service.

In the case of text the cost is clearly nil.

Expensive texting

5p a message sound a bit too expensive for my taste.

I Denmark the price is 1-2p a peace and only if you pay-per-message which I don't.

I pay about 5£/month for unlimited use of texting which equals doing more than 500 messages/month before that price is a win-win for me.

Since I don't use texting that much any more I'll pay the 1-2p a message atm.

Cash cow

5p per text is average if you don't text much and therefore can't use packages that conveniently expire every month - some companies charge 12p for a single text.

Portugal is significantly cheaper than the Danish price ~ 10 times cheaper than the UK cash cow prices.