[KS1987]

Phones in the UK are dirt cheap, it's the contract with the operator that makes them as pricy as in other countries. So I was wondering if there is an operator within the UK that sells this blackberry, with an easy contract to escape from (aka make the phone sim free). Kind regards to anyone who is willing to help with this matter.

[bananasplit]

Because the operators change their plans every so often, your best bet is to go to each of their website and see what's the cheapest contract there is, and hopefully it's just 12 months. I have not come across Blackberry units sold here (obviously locked to the operator) that are on prepaid (therefore no contract). The following are operators in the UK, in no particular order. Note not all may have BB contracts:

Vodaphone
Orange
O2
T-Mobile
Three

Having said that, there are are sellers like expansys.com that will sell sim-free phones, but the prices are a bit steep. The only reason why the phones seem "dirt cheap" is that the operators subsidize the cost of the phone, and they recoup that cost with lengthy contracts and/or more expensive monthly plans.

Always compute for the TCO (total cost of ownership) to give you the overall true value of what you intend to purchase. For example, if the phone is priced at £100 and the monthly plan is £30 and the contract is 12, then your TCO = phone cost + (monthly plan x number of months in contract), which i this example would give you £460.

Now if the sim-free phone is being sold for more than this amount, then your best bet is to get the contract, not to mention your TCO is spread out over several months so it doesn't seem expensive. If the sim free phone is less than the TCO example above, then it may seem a good deal but your initial cash out will be greater, not to mention the additional cost of having a voice AND data plan added to that.

[Superh3ro]

Originally Posted by KS1987

Phones in the UK are dirt cheap, it's the contract with the operator that makes them as pricy as in other countries. So I was wondering if there is an operator within the UK that sells this blackberry, with an easy contract to escape from (aka make the phone sim free). Kind regards to anyone who is willing to help with this matter.

i bought mine through ebay from a seller thats getting them from vodafone uk

if u want i can get u his email

[GT5L]

Wirelessly posted (bb8320TMO)

Originally Posted by bananasplit

Because the operators change their plans every so often, your best bet is to go to each of their website and see what's the cheapest contract there is, and hopefully it's just 12 months. I have not come across Blackberry units sold here (obviously locked to the operator) that are on prepaid (therefore no contract). The following are operators in the UK, in no particular order. Note not all may have BB contracts:

Vodaphone
Orange
O2
T-Mobile
Three

Having said that, there are are sellers like expansys.com that will sell sim-free phones, but the prices are a bit steep. The only reason why the phones seem "dirt cheap" is that the operators subsidize the cost of the phone, and they recoup that cost with lengthy contracts and/or more expensive monthly plans.

Always compute for the TCO (total cost of ownership) to give you the overall true value of what you intend to purchase. For example, if the phone is priced at £100 and the monthly plan is £30 and the contract is 12, then your TCO = phone cost + (monthly plan x number of months in contract), which i this example would give you £460.

Now if the sim-free phone is being sold for more than this amount, then your best bet is to get the contract, not to mention your TCO is spread out over several months so it doesn't seem expensive. If the sim free phone is less than the TCO example above, then it may seem a good deal but your initial cash out will be greater, not to mention the additional cost of having a voice AND data plan added to that.

This TCO calculation should only applies to someone who is buying the phone outside the UK. Because if you are in the UK the TCO should subtract what you would pay anyway for mobile service.

[bananasplit]

@GT5L
You probably misunderstood the whole concept. Obviously if the phone was "free", then there would be no cost, but instead the calculation would only be based on the monthly fee times the number of months. TCO would still apply in this case, as if you can see how much a phone itself sells on a site like eBay, then you add the cost of the monthly tariff to that.

Whether you are buying in the UK or outside the UK, TCO would ALWAYS apply, as this will always be the true value of your investment (if you consider it as one).

[KS1987]

Thanks for your input, but I decided to hold off the buy. With the bold having limited battery life and the storm's lack of wifi.

[coolspot]

Originally Posted by KS1987

Thanks for your input, but I decided to hold off the buy. With the bold having limited battery life and the storm's lack of wifi.

The Bold is the best Blackberry bar none!

Too bad you're missing out