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"I haven't seen anything else yet (though I might just have missed it) in western Europe." Actually, it's very common in Europe. They're called "SIM only" plan

"I haven't seen anything else yet (though I might just have missed it) in western Europe." Actually, it's very common in Europe. They're called "SIM only" plans. They don't include a phone, but are way cheaper. Example: http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/sim-only-plans/all-sim-plans http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/sim-only-plans/all-sim-plans "There are even countries (e.g. Belgium) where you don't get pack-ins (so the phone is full price) and the contract price's as expensive as in subsidized countries." In Belgium, operators are prohibited from selling subsidized phones. Instead, consumers buy their phones full price and sign up for a SIM-only plan. Example: An iPhone 4 16GB costs Euro 640 ($850) at Mobistar Belgium. Their iPhone plan costs Euro 45 a month ($60). The plan includes 6 hours of outgoing calls (incoming calls are free), 600 text messages and 500MB 3G data. Spread over 2 years, that would be the same as paying $95 a month for a plan with a subsidized phone. That's about the same as it would cost in Belgium's neighboring country, The Netherlands, where phone subsidies are allowed. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Foffer.mobistar.be%2Fnl%2Faanbod%2Fmobiel%2Fiphone%2F http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&tl...

masklinn 16y ago
> Actually, it's very common in Europe. They're called "SIM only" plans. They don't include a phone, but are way cheaper. They're not "way" cheaper. They provide more service at the same price and no phone. Here is the full grid: http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mobile-price-plans/all-plans?initialFilters=flt_24monthplans http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mobile-price-plans/all-plans... > In Belgium, operators are prohibited from selling subsidized phones. Instead, consumers buy their phones full price and sign up for a SIM-only plan. No, that's the point, you can't get subsidized phones and it still isn't cheaper. > Example: An iPhone 4 16GB costs Euro 640 ($850) at Mobistar Belgium. Their iPhone plan costs Euro 45 a month ($60). Which is the price of a plan with subsidized phone in France with Mobistar's parent company (orange) [0] Origami Star starts at 39€ giving access to a 16GB iPhone 4 for 229€ [1]. Though for the same price you do get more voice in Belgium. [0] http://iphone.orange.fr/forfaits.php http://iphone.orange.fr/forfaits.php [1] http://www.orange.fr/bin/frame.cgi?u=http%3A//sites.orange.fr/boutique/files/html/pe_pack_forfait_star_iphone.html http://www.orange.fr/bin/frame.cgi?u=http%3A//sites.orange.f...

masklinn 16y ago

> Actually, it's very common in Europe. They're called "SIM only" plans. They don't include a phone, but are way cheaper. They're not "way" cheaper. They provide more service at the same price and no phone. Here is the full grid: http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mobile-price-plans/all-plans?initialFilters=flt_24monthplans http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mobile-price-plans/all-plans... > In Belgium, operators are prohibited from selling subsidized phones. Instead, consumers buy their phones full price and sign up for a SIM-only plan. No, that's the point, you can't get subsidized phones and it still isn't cheaper. > Example: An iPhone 4 16GB costs Euro 640 ($850) at Mobistar Belgium. Their iPhone plan costs Euro 45 a month ($60). Which is the price of a plan with subsidized phone in France with Mobistar's parent company (orange) [0] Origami Star starts at 39€ giving access to a 16GB iPhone 4 for 229€ [1]. Though for the same price you do get more voice in Belgium. [0] http://iphone.orange.fr/forfaits.php http://iphone.orange.fr/forfaits.php [1] http://www.orange.fr/bin/frame.cgi?u=http%3A//sites.orange.fr/boutique/files/html/pe_pack_forfait_star_iphone.html http://www.orange.fr/bin/frame.cgi?u=http%3A//sites.orange.f...