Are 18 Month Contracts Going?

TS7

TS7

TS7

Soldato
Joined
16 Feb 2010
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Location
East Mids
Was just wondering if anyone had any information on this. I bumped into a mate on a night out and got chatting, he works in a phone store and said 18 month contracts are on there way out within the next few months and 24months is going to be the minimum.

Does anyone know if this is true? Can anyone confirm? Now I've been urming and arring for a while now to get onto my own contract and was waiting for the Torch to be released. As if it is true I need to stop being indecisive and get a phone ASAP. By no means do I want a 24mnth contract, I'm not even happy with 18mnth ones!
 
if you want a 'free' phone then it's already heading that way in many cases.

Part of the reason I've gone sim only (1 or 12 month plans) and just buy a phone unlocked.
 
I hate how we are getting pushed down that road :(
grumble grumble at 24 month contracts, as you say 18month are bad enough
 
I just buy the phone outright now, and go on a month by month contract. Works out cheaper than some pesky 2 year contract in the long run. You can also sell it for a decent second hand price more than often.
 
SPG said:
I just buy the phone outright now, and go on a month by month contract. Works out cheaper than some pesky 2 year contract in the long run. You can also sell it for a decent second hand price more than often.
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That's just not true, it usually works out cheaper to get a new phone with a contract rather than SIM free.
 
I blame all the people who take out 24 month contracts.

I plan to demand a 12 month contract for my next phone or my PAC code. I wonder how much they will charge me? (Or how quickly they say bye bye?)
 
I'm fine with a 24 month contract. If my handset lasts less than 3 years I'll be unhappy.

If your impatient and want shiny then go sim-free.
 
Im with 3 and on a 12 month contract, have been for the last 5 years ive been with them.

Contract is up in a couple of months, and im definately staying on 12 months. If not i'm gonna move to a sim only deal.
 
They probably won't end completely, they will probably just price it so that to stay on 18 months you will have to pay £100 for a decent phone and an extra £5/month or if you take the 24 month, the phone is free and the tariff is £5 less for more usage.
 
On high end handsets your pretty much stuck with the choice of 24 months at a reasonable price or 18 months at a stupid price.
 
Trifid said:
mand a 12 month contract for my next phone or my PAC code. I wonder how much they will charge me? (Or how quickly they say bye bye?)
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Unless you spend >£40 a month expect them to tell you to get stuffed. 18m is still about, people just don't take them as they are, in their eyes, worse value for money.
 
12 month contracts still exist :confused:

Saw an advert in the Metro the other day for them, think it was Vodafone, going on about "short term relationships". Of course, that's only for the lower end phones, but what do you expect? You're not going to get the high end stuff on short contracts with low monthly payments as it is literally not economically viable for the network provider.
 
Rising contract lengths are pretty much a given, as phones are getting more expensive and talkplans are giving more and more benefits for the same price (who remembers when £30 a month would get you 200 mins and nothing else).

Of course, the shorter contracts are still about, but they cost more to balance the economics. Seems pretty straightfoward to me.
 
Myshra said:
Unless you spend >£40 a month expect them to tell you to get stuffed. 18m is still about, people just don't take them as they are, in their eyes, worse value for money.
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I'm hoping for £40 a month plus some money up front. Not expecting loads of minutes or texts.

If it works out cheaper I'll just buy it sim free and get a Tmobile £15 a month sim (or try to get Vodafone to match it.)
 
When 12 months contracts were the norm and 18 months appearing, I said I would never get a contract that length.

I eventually ended up with an 18 month contract.

Now 18 months are the norm with 24 months contracts around, I said I would never go for a 2 year contract.

Yesterday, I signed up to an 24 month contract with Vodafone as part of my upgrade.:eek:

I'm not a massive talker/texter so £30 a month contracts are complete overkill for me, but I always went for them as it resulted in a decent handset for free.

Now paying £14.99 a month for 300 mins, Unlimited texts and 500MB of data. Also got the HTC Desire for free, so chuffed with that even if its for 2 years.
 
You pay more (initially) for a shorter contract. I think for the high end phones certainly you won't get free phones without 24 months a contract now.
 
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