TalkTalk updates its mobile plans ahead of inevitable quad-play competition
TalkTalk has long been a friend to the price-conscious consumer, offering low-cost TV, broadband and mobile services as alternatives to pricier options from the Skys and EEs of this world. In recent history, however, it's been exploring opportunities beyond just "the basics," investing in fibre infrastructure, linking up with O2 to eventually provide 4G mobile coverage, and buying Tesco's Blinkbox streaming service. The company's clearly making sure it can stay competitive when everyone becomes a quad-play provider, but it's not forgetting its core values, as evidenced by the new spread of low-cost mobile tariffs announced today. As is tradition when providers refresh their plans, they take more brain power than you'd like to wrap your head around. But, let me try and simplify things with only as many tables and words as are necessary.
TalkTalk's new 12-month, SIM-only plans | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
"Small" | £3.75 | 300MB | 250 | 250 |
"Small" | £7.50 | 250MB | 300 | 250 |
"Medium" | £6.25 | 1GB | 400 | Unlimited |
"Medium" | £12.50 | 700MB | 500 | Unlimited |
"Large" | £7.50 | 2GB | 700 | Unlimited |
"Large" | £15 | 1.4GB | 1000 | Unlimited |
"Extra Large" | £20 | 4GB | 2000 | Unlimited |
As the table hopefully spells out, the small, medium and large SIM-only tariff types all have full-price and half-price versions. Opt for the cheaper one, and you get more data, but fewer minutes, compared with the more expensive option. Don't ask me how TalkTalk came up with these prices, though. For the £7.50 per month plan, for example, you're essentially paying £3.75 of that for 50 minutes, and 50MB less data. That's life, I guess?
Important update: TalkTalk neglected to mention that the "half-price" tariffs are a promotion, only available until February 16th. After that, both "small" plans will be £7.50 per month, and so on. Sigh...
Other key factoids
•These prices are for 12-month, SIM-only contracts. The reason "half-price" is used to describe some of the plans is because you can chuck a handset into the mix. If the phone contract is longer than a year, though, then the monthly tariff cost will increase after 12 months.
•You must be a TalkTalk customer already to sign up for a mobile plan.
•The data allowances shown in the table are only valid when shopping online. Sign up through any other channel, and those figures are cut in half.
•These are currently 3G-only contracts. TalkTalk will eventually move from Vodafone's to O2's network, at which point it will be able to offer 4G.
•The "Extra Large" plan is a completely new tier aimed at power users.
•The £3.50 per month contract option introduced in October 2013 has been scrapped, making the new £3.75 per month tariff TalkTalk's cheapest.
•The free SIM TalkTalk Plus TV package subscribers receive is unaffected. It's still good for 100 minutes, 250 texts and 250MB of data per month.
•Got it? Excellent.
Oh, and finally, TalkTalk is now offering the latest iPad Air and iPad mini in its phone plus tablet bundles, starting at £25 per month.
