In message , at 22:56:58 on Fri, 19 Jul
2019, Recliner remarked:
MissRiaElaine wrote:
On 19/07/2019 15:07, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 14:45:40 on Fri, 19
Jul 2019, MissRiaElaine remarked:
Networks have tried hard over the years to introduce their
equivalent* of* "standing charges" to fight back a little bit. One
I'll be* writing about* later (in more detail) in another
subthread, is the O2* requirement that* PAYG phones wanting to use
the tube Wifi are topped* up at least once a* month.

A standing charge equals a contract. Making someone top up monthly
is* effectively forcing them onto one in all but name.
*It's a slight discount, because the typical top-up would be £10 and
the* typical contract £30. And because you can stop any time you like
(apart* from some more recent hybrid plans that include a
partly-subsidised* phone) it's not in any sense a "contract".

Semantics. In all but name it is. If you have to pay a certain amount
of money each month regardless of how much you use it, then to me it's
a contract.

It's vastly more than semantics. The whole point of the "contract"
system for mobile phones (and many other infrastructure accounts) is
locking someone in for a minimum period. The impossibility of resigning
early is the only thing about the contract that ever really maters.

You can have one-month rolling contracts, say £10 a month. Some
operators may call it PAYG but it's still a contract as far as I'm
concerned and I wouldn't touch one with a very long pole.

No PAYG deals require monthly top-ups.

Some do, if you want to keep all the benefits (specifically something
like O2's access to tube-wifi).

Or if you want to stay making[1] calls at all, if the credit expires at
the end of each month. But after a period of complete inactivity you'll
likely lose the number, timescale depending on the network.

[1] Inbound termination fees, especially from classic landlines, are
lucrative, and so you'll probably retain the ability to receive
calls.
--
Roland Perry