mobile but no costly contract...

[NetworkGuy]

Worth checking HotUKDeals.com now and then for bargains.

One SIM deal I saw recently is for Ovivo Mobile, where you pay a once-only fee of £20 for the "Freedom 0" SIM card and you get £15 in credit, plus, every month, 200 minutes, 300 texts, and 500 MB of data.

Please note that I've seen the internet use also displays adverts so be warned! (I've also seen comments that using Apps avoids these adverts. Personally I plan to use a "dumb" phone just for the voice minutes and texts, because that way I cannot have any application chew up my £15 of credit.)

Also from their site: "Recommend a friend and we’ll add £5 of OVIVO credit to your account to say thanks! All you need to do is make sure they include your OVIVO mobile number when they activate their new SIM cards."

Now, I don't even have their SIM yet, so please don't accuse me of getting credit from MN users... Of course, if you use it, and like it, you are free to recommend it to your friends and family! If you exceed your 'included' minutes/texts then they charge 2p per minute or text to other OVIVO customers (so if you have regular contact with friends and family, it makes sense to get them on OVIVO too, just in case you run out of minutes).

Remember, networks expect you to pay monthly, or top-up every month, while this is a one-off payment. I think it has a definite "shelf life" - maybe 3 years or so, because in some ways it sounds like a pyramid scheme with new customers covering the cost of existing users (and the price of the SIM was £15 about 10 months ago, plus calls to other OVIVO users were free). However, if it works for 6 to 18 months for me, for just 20 quid, I'll be very happy.

[NetworkGuy]

I should have added they do other options (600 minutes, 1500 minutes) and data-only (1 GB, 2 GB, 3 GB) options.

I put an image online from my browser rather than copy the details (and risk a few typos) - see here

[ThePortlyPinUp]

I have been with Ovivo since September and I'm really pleased with the service, when I bought my sim it was £15 including £15 credit and I still have £13 left as the minutes and texts are more than adequate for me. We bought dd1 an Ovivo sim as one of her Christmas presents to go with her new mobile, it's a total bargain.