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pay monthly phone subsidies/discounts

  • 28-03-2003 12:42am
    #1
    ifconfig
    Registered Users Posts: 880 ✭✭✭


    I am not sure if this has been covered before on this forum but I was looking at Sony/Ericsson T68i prices on www.expansys.co.uk and I noticed that it is given away free with one pay monthly contract and 99UKStg in another
    when bought with specific O2 subscriptions in the UK. Then to satisfy my curiosity I googled for mention of the same phone on o2.ie site.
    RRP mentioned by o2.ie is 439Euo (!!)

    Can someone explain even the basics of the economics / pricing models / market differences which cause us in Ireland to be expected to fork out nearly 450 Euro on this phone with a pay monthly contract while our cousins in the UK can get one of these for a nominal cost?

    I assume it wouldn't be practical for an Irish resident to sign up for a UK o2.ie subscription
    (probably not even permitted).

    Does anyone know what the lowest price (eg, upgrade price from high street phone merchants) is for the T68i in Ireland. It really
    sucks to see it being available for such a small
    amount in UK when bought in tandem with a subscription.....

    iconfig.


Comments

  • #2
    The Corinthian
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19,777 ✭✭✭✭The Corinthian


    One can buy subsidised phones (if on contract you calculate the monthly connection fee for the contract period as part of the price), unlock them from the network and bring them away with them to another country. There’s nothing really stopping you, as long as you don’t break your contract and they accept your application.

    Actually there’s long been a market for that sort of thing, especially with pre-paid phones. For example, look at the deals being offered by one operator here in Ireland - circa €90 for the phone, plus €70 call credit. You could buy 10,000 phones and rent a 1580 number, dial them all up to that 1580 number one weekend (use a few students for the purpose) and convert up to €35 of that money, then unlock and chip out the handsets to North Africa (where they tend not to be subsidised) for €150 each - a gross profit of over 100% per handset. Not technically illegal, but it will get you blacklisted by the operators here.


  • #3
    carrotcake
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,085 ✭✭✭carrotcake


    to get a uk contract you need a uk bank account and a uk address. but it's not gonna be much use for any longer because...

    as of the 1st of april orange are scrapping all handset subsidies on their contract phones. the other uk operators are soon gonna be following their example. this is because the regulator has forced them to lower the prices of x-net calls, and to fund this subsidies are going out the window


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