SIM ONLY POPULARITY RISES IN RECESSIONS - August 20th 2009
The uptake of SIM only contracts during the recession has risen considerably and has been welcomed by consumers looking to cut costs on their mobile phone bills and ultimately get better value for money. According to a recent industry report by Ofcom the UK's independent communications regulator, SIM only deals have risen by 20 per cent as consumers switch from longer term contracts to the new shorter 30 day SIM contracts.
SIM only contracts are available on all the main UK networks including T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2 and more recently 3 Mobile all of whom offer these deals on a one month contract that can be cancelled at any time. This gives the consumer more flexibilty if they want to change their network.
On the flip side, 24 month contracts are also becoming more popular as customers become more prepared to commit to a specific network and mobile phone. The longer contracts also offer a discounted line rental with more minutes and texts up for grabs. In the first few months of 2009, nearly 13% of long term contracts were for 24 months compared to 2% the previous year.
These statistic show that the contract market is going through a major change and where it looks like the there is a shift to shorter and longer contracts, customers may ultimately shift back to the regular 12 month contracts once the economy starts to recover.
