#“PAYG data effectively 4x more on 3IRL than 3UK……in Ireland”
I've mentioned my Pay As You Go Three UK SIM many times on Twitter. The value and customer friendliness of it is still unbeatable. Walk into a Three UK store, give them £10 and get a SIM with a ton of minutes, texts and 150MB data that lasts 90 days.Top it up with another tenner for good measure and that doesn't expire.
If you use that SIM in Ireland (ROI), they text you to say that you get 10p per min call, free to receive, 10p per SMS and 10p/MB for data.
Now go to the Three Ireland site and look at their PAYG data deals. Oh that's right, you get no data included with your €10 Free SIM. So how do you get data?
You can get 1GB per month add-on for €9.99. Perhaps someone in 3 Ireland can explain how a per month charge = Pay As You Go?
Or I can get a mobile broadband deal. Because as we all know, data packets on your phone are entirely different to data packets on a broadband modem. Those deals are 1 day (500MB) at €5, 1 week (2GB) at €10 etc. On the surface, solid value. But no-one on PAYG needs 2GB in a week, they need less spread over a longer period. Otherwise they'll just take pay monthly contract.
So let's say you pay your €5 for the one day. How much is data after that i.e. How much is it to Pay As I Go? 49c per MB. FOUR TIMES MORE than Three UK charges in Ireland.
FOUR TIMES MORE.
I had high hopes for Three being disruptive when they came to Ireland. The UK operation really is at the cutting edge of value for money and interesting services/devices. But obviously they saw that the Irish love nothing better than to be ripped off by mobile operators and figured they'd get a chunk of that action.
You'll find your friendly Three UK Store at "3 STORE, 48A - 49 Buttercrane Shopping Centre, Newry, BT35 8HJ"
Small warning tho. Don't use it to receive calls/texts in the South. The people contacting you will be gouged by their local Irish mobile operator.