Public divided over 2 year mobile phone contracts

"No" to 2-year phone contract – but only just

17 May 2007 15:48 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Last month Orange became the first mobile phone operator to introduce the 2-year mobile phone contract in the UK.

Signing up to one provider, and one having one handset for a 24-month stretch may seem like hell to any early-adopter commitment-phobes.

Wondering if this was the case for our tech-loving readership, in our most recent Pocket-lint.co.uk poll we asked you if you would sign up for a 2-year mobile phone contract.

The almost evenly divided results came in at 47% of saying that yes, you would be happy to, and 53% saying no.

Traditionally phone contracts were always a year; 18-month contracts became popular with the lure of better phones and better packages to make up for the extra 6 months you had to sign away.

Two-year contracts are appealing to mobile phone operators as not only have they snared a guaranteed 2 year's worth of monthly payments but they also avoid the costly process of replacing handsets and associated admin.

On the plus side for consumers, with a 2-year contract you can get a better deal, such as more free minutes and texts, as PR manager, David Macdonald, from Orange UK is keen to point out:

"We are encouraged by the results of your survey to see that as many as 47% of readers would choose a 24-month contract over other products.

We were the first network in the UK to introduce them because we noticed a growing number of customers who wanted to stay with us for 2 years in exchange for more minutes and texts each month.

We will of course continue to offer 12 or 18 month packages because the majority of people prefer to sign up for shorter amounts of time but we are happy to see that there is a growing interest in staying with us for longer to receive better value for money."

Full tags

Phones, Orange