Cheapest mobile phone for infrequent use

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europhile

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My mother's landline has been down for a few days now and she doesn't have a mobile.

I need to buy her a cheap pay-as-you go. Also, in case it happens again. The phone won't be used regularly.

All suggestions welcome. Thanks.
 
europhile said:
My mother's landline has been down for a few days now
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Just curious - why? If there is any sort of dispute with the eircom or another telco and she is an OAP (or thereabouts! :)) then contact Age Action Ireland and they might be able to help. They were with my mother when her line was out of action due to no fault of her own.
 
There's a cable fault in the Dublin 7 area. About 200 phones out since about last Tuesday. Have phoned eircom on numerous occasions to no avail. Just keep getting the standard line about "we're working on it". It was mentioned on 98FM yesterday. Have heard nothing in any other medium.
 
I see - thanks. Do you know which exchange? Cabra or other? We're D7 but on Crown Alley and unaffected.
 
I have a couple of beat-up old phones lying around. Is it possible to just buy a number/SIM card for them?
 
Tesco's cheapest phone is about €40 I think, and if you register it online you get a bit of "free" credit. You get an 089 number. Don't know about sending webtexts although they may not be of interest to you anyhow.
 
europhile said:
I have a couple of beat-up old phones lying around. Is it possible to just buy a number/SIM card for them?
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Yes. Most or all operators sell SIM only packs that support a new or a ported number. It's possible that you may need to get them unlocked from the original operator's network first depending on what you want to do. In most cases this will be done for free if a certain amount of credit (for pay as you go) was bought to cover the cost of the subsidy. Otherwise there may be a charge. Or you might be able to do this yourself or go to some third party (may be in breach of the T&Cs of your original agreement).
 
Be aware that some operators have a 'minimum spend' policy e.g. you must top up by at least €20 every 6 months or the account will be de-activated. If the phone will have very little use make sure this is not the case with the operator you choose.
 
ClubMan said:
Yes. Most or all operators sell SIM only packs that support a new or a ported number. It's possible that you may need to get them unlocked from the original operator's network first depending on what you want to do. In most cases this will be done for free if a certain amount of credit (for pay as you go) was bought to cover the cost of the subsidy. Otherwise there may be a charge. Or you might be able to do this yourself or go to some third party (may be in breach of the T&Cs of your original agreement).
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Thanks for that. Sounds just what I'm looking for.

Are those places which unlock phones on Moore Street legal?
 
Interesting thread.

Mrs Pancake got a free upgrade to a [broken link removed] on ThreePay Monthly.

This left her with a nice 3g phone(nokia 6633) which I myself could use, but I am on a different network, and my company mobile is sh1te.

I have searched the Internet for an unlock service which can unlock this phone to no avail. This seems to be one of those "hard locked"?? phones.

Would Three provide an unlock code for this, to enable it to be used on a competitor network?
 
irishpancake said:
Would Three provide an unlock code for this, to enable it to be used on a competitor network?
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3 told me that to unlock my SE k610i I would first have to have topped up by €130 and there would then be a €27 handling charge to provide the unlock code.
 
Crunchie said:
3 told me that to unlock my SE k610i I would first have to have topped up by €130 and there would then be a €27 handling charge to provide the unlock code.
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Thanks for the info Crunchie.

OK so if you are on 3 Pay there is a minimum top-up required, but my missus was on Pay Monthly contract.

Anyone know what is required, or how much is the unlock code? Same as above?
 
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