In message , at 23:50:43 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


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

It's not a contract, and calling it such muddies discussion such as
this.

and I wouldn't touch one with a very long pole.

Apart from the cost (if you are a very low user), what's wrong with
them?

For my usage, PAYG with no topup required fits the bill. Why would I
pay more..?

What works for you doesn't necessarily work for others.
--
Roland Perry