One 2 One

One 2 One is one of the 4 major mobile networks in the UK other than Vodafone (the first mobile network set up in UK!), BT Cellnet (which includes genie; the mobile internet service) and Orange (the most popular network!) and of course Virgin Mobile which operates off One 2 One. So which one do you choose? Well, as always a good place to start is at Ciao a highly useful resource for the consumer; and looking at the current quantity of opinions; ...
...place are BT cellnet and One 2 One.

Choosing a network can depend on many factors such as:
1) UK coverage
2) call quality
3) tariff plans,
4) or even down to what handsets are available on the network.

I had been an Orange customer for 3 years and had received an excellent service and always had superb call quality, so you may be asking why did I change to One2One? The reason I changed ... more

One 2 One is one of the 4 major mobile networks in the UK other than Vodafone (the first mobile network set up in UK!), BT Cellnet (which includes genie; the mobile internet service) and Orange (the most popular network!) and of course Virgin Mobile which operates off One 2 One. So which one do you choose? Well, as always a good place to start is at Ciao a highly useful resource for the consumer; and looking at the current quantity of opinions; the figures seem to speak for themselves; with Orange having over 300 opinions, Vodafone in second place with 194 opinions and in joint third place are BT cellnet and One 2 One.

Choosing a network can depend on many factors such as:
1) UK coverage
2) call quality
3) tariff plans,
4) or even down to what handsets are available on the network.

I had been an Orange customer for 3 years and had received an excellent service and always had superb call quality, so you may be asking why did I change to One2One? The reason I changed was because I wanted to replace my mobile phone and keep my old number and the cheapest way for me to do this was to leave Orange. The phone I was interested in had not been released on the Orange network (Samsung SGH-A-300); in addition prices of upgrades are always more expensive than starting a new contract; so I decided to go with One 2 One.

One 2 One
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Like most other networks One 2 One claims 98% coverage of the UK. I checked my postcode for coverage, as well as a few destinations I’d be calling regularly and they all showed an excellent high level of coverage. However, this was not always the case; originally, One2 One started around the M25 area in London and have since expanded up and across the breadth of the country. If you live in remote areas please do check whether One 2 One covers your area and what level of call quality to expect. In recent times the expansion of One 2 One retailers seems to have shot up over the country; I have even noticed previous Vodafone or Orange retailers now selling exclusively One 2 One. So there must be some incentive in Sales and Connections to One 2 One network and One 2 One must be confident to boost and promote certain new tariffs. In this opinion I will discuss my experience of One 2 One as a customer and some of the popular 'monthly' tariffs available on this network. Always remember; whatever network you join you have up to 14 days to cancel the contract and leave the network if you are not happy with the service.

Joining One 2 One
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Joining One 2 One couldn’t have been any easier I asked to have my number transferred from Orange (free of charge). To do this Orange (or your previous network) issue what is known as a PAC number; which stands for Portable Access Code and in approx. seven days the old number is transferred to One to One. Now you may be wondering “do I have to be without a phone for 7 days?” Well, no as soon as you purchase a new phone and Contract with One 2 One I was issued a temporary number, which started working straight away. On the other hand if you are connecting to a network for the first time or do not wish to transfer previous mobile phone number then it couldn’t be simpler; you’ll have your new phone and new phone number connected to the network instantly. A large Blue coloured Welcome to One 2 One pack is issued with the Sale, highlighting most common questions, answers and features of the network.

Analysis of Tariffs
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One 2 One like most mobile communications operators offers a variety of Social and business tariffs. Being a first time customer with One 2 One I chose the lowest priced monthly tariff at £13 per month called ‘Anytime 20’; this allows you to make calls at anytime of the day. As the name suggests 20 minutes of free calls are included in this Call Plan and further calls are charged at 10p/min in day or evening. Calls to One 2 One mobiles is 10p/min anytime in the day and calls to other networks cost 25p/min anytime of the day (which is cheaper than Orange’s 35p/min). One of the best things about all One 2 One Call Plans is that voice mail retrieval is free at anytime of the day, provided you are in UK. The price also includes free itemised billing, just like Orange! I think the £13 entry level tariff seems to apply across all the networks, with Vodafone charging £12.99 on ‘Vodafone 20’ for example, however standard calls are charged at 15p/min on Vodafone compared to One 2 One’s 10p/min on ‘Anytime 20’.

Other tariffs I am considering to upgrade to with One 2 One is a rather popular off-peak tariff called ‘Free Time’ that would appeal to those who make a lot of off-peak calls and love to chat! This tariff allows ‘unlimited’ off-peak calls, yes that’s right, unlimited! Well almost *….. read on..

Being an ex Everyday 50 Customer from Orange I was used to having 50 mins a day to talk, making that about 1500 minutes a month, but the bad thing about that tariff was you had to use the 50 minutes in a day, so if you didn’t use it basically you would lose it. Having one month to spread calls makes it easier with a tariff like ‘Free Time’ which allows off-peak Unlimited FREE calls, but as some of you may know this tariff has recently been re-introduced it used to be around a few years ago, but had been abused with members running businesses etc off the unlimited off-peak time. So One 2 One have re-issued this tariff subject to a *Fair Use Policy which basically means anyone found using the unlimited minutes ‘excessively’ may be removed from that tariff; their definition of excessive is more than 3000 minutes a month. This generous tariff allowing unlimited off peaks calls to land lines and other One 2 One mobiles too. At the moment, I don’t know anyone on One 2 One, but once a few people transfer over then I’d be able to maximise its potential. Once again retrieving your voice mail messages is free anytime of day or night.

Text messages cost 10p on ‘Free Time’ and ‘Anytime 20’. On Vodafone 20 or BT Cellnet’s ‘Weekend 300’, text messages cost 12p. However, if you are a frequent text message sender there is another tariff on One 2 One called ‘Talk and Text’ that you may find more useful; this allows 50 free text messages a month, and 500 free off-peak calls at monthly price of £15 a month.

For those of you not interested in entering a contract there are of course, PAYG (Pay As You Go) Tariffs allowing one access to One 2 One at 5p/min after 2 minutes after an initial charge of 30p/min. If you've already got a handset One 2 One also allows you to buy a SIM card only that includes £5 worth of calls for £15.

Call Quality and Network Performance~

The call quality has been quite good so far. I have not yet dropped a call, though most calls have been made in mainland England.
I did find some interruption in line breaks however during my calls to One 2 One customer service. I have yet to establish whether this is a fault on my phone or is applicable to One 2 One call centre.

The Bill
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My bill arrived promptly (how nice! A little later would've been better!). After seeing orange bills for 3 years the Blue made a change, though it looked dull, just like a BT bill! Anyway whether dull or bright, orange or blue (as long as its not red!) a bill has to be paid once you’ve assessed the call charges are correct.

The information is clearly displayed on the first page showing the name of the tariff, followed by the itemised charges of the calls made on the second page. I got a nasty shock when I saw my bill as I’d incurred WAP phone charges of a few pounds! Please note WAP phone calls are NOT included in any of One to One’s Call Plans and are charged at 10p/min. You will find this is the case with most networks with the exception of BT Cellnet’s Mobile Internet scheme called ‘Genie’ who specialise in WAP. WAP is still so poorly developed that my advice is to avoid using it unless its free on your network. I was just adjusting my phone settings and must have accidentally gone to the WAP browser to incur WAP charges, Ouch!
My payment is by Direct Debit as One 2 One charge at extra £1 if paying by other methods. You get your bill 2 weeks prior to your bank account being debited, so if there are any discrepancies you can sort it out with One 2 One first.

Customer Service
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Contacting customer Services is free via your mobile, by dialling 121.Ok, this is where I was not that impressed. The knowledge of staff is a lot less than my experience with Orange, where throughout my 3 years I always got through to really helpful staff, always pleased to take your call and always knew what strings to pull if a customer had a problem. Out of 10 calls to One 2 One only today I came across a really helpful operator, shows they are more rare to find at One 2 One than at Orange. I think Orange Call Centre’s were in Leeds and from the sound of the operators for One to One they seem to be in Scotland (not that should make any difference!) Basically I found staff take too long to answer queries; they should know where to find the answer to customer questions straightaway in their on screen browsers or if it’s a typical question they should know the answer straightaway. Anyway, now that I am settled into the network there shouldn’t be too much need for me to contact Customer Services.

Insurance
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Another downside is Insurance. Insurance is not included with any One 2 One Call Plans and needs to be taken out separately. It cost £3.99 a month, which is £1 cheaper than Orange’s Insurance which starts at £5 a month but goes down each year you don’t claim. The Insurance is not widely discussed and I was not asked at time of taking out the Contract or by One 2 On whether Id like it, it’s very important to have mobile phone insurance and please be aware its not included as standard on One 2 One Call Plans. On Orange Talk Plans insurance is included, except on the Everyday 50 Tarriff.

Overall, although One 2 One hasn’t been the most successful network on the market; it is currently a growing one with some stunning tariffs; especially the unlimited Free Talk Times. With free voice mail retrieval and a selection of the latest phones (Motorola T191, Samsung A-300, as well as all the Nokia’s!) it makes this an exciting alternative to consider next time you are upgrading your mobile, and remember if you don’t like it you can cancel your contract within 14 days free of charge. Based on the positive facts above of Call Plans etc, coupled with the need in improvement of Customer services and lack of phone insurance I award this network a 3 –star rating and still rate Orange No.1 in Customer Services, but this is where One 2 One company has still to progress and is experiencing rapid growth, the future may not be Orange after all!

For further information check out: www.one2one.co.uk

Connoisseur_haggler © Ciao [UK] 

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