In message , at 12:31:00 on Sun, 3 Apr 2016,
tim... remarked:

When Rabbit was withdrawn, one of the compensation packages on offer
was a free Orange phone, although it was still on a contract at
£30/month. The networks weren't subsidising the phones from the
monthly contract back then.

Oh yes they were.

It was much more necessary then because the entry price for buying a
phone was beyond the "utility" value that a domestic customer would pay

They weren't selling many to domestic customers (if you mean consumers)
back then, because the industry's main market was companies. Calls cost
typically 50p/minute.

Orange and One-to-One started opening it up to a wider audience with
prices which appealed more to the masses, but the Nokia Orange in 1994
was still £299 to buy.
--
Roland Perry