Three U.K Launches Cheaper PAYG Rates

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Three U.K. has revamped its pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pricing by introducing new, lower rates for prepaid customers who don’t sign up to one of its monthly add-ons. As of this week, customers with PAYG credit who are not using an add-on will pay just 3 pence per minute for calls, 2 pence per SMS message and 1 pence per MB of data.

Three says that the move is designed to make it easier for customers to only pay for what they use, rather than purchasing an add-on which expires after 30 days — which is great news for those who always have part of their monthly allowance remaining when it’s due to expire.

This change in pricing also means that the user can divide their PAYG credit between calls, texts, and data more accurately.

For those of you wondering what Three’s 30 day PAYG add-ons consist of, you can see the full list below:

  • All in One 10 (£10) – 100 minutes, 3,000 texts and 500MB of data.
  • All in One 15 (£15) – 300 minutes, 3,000 texts and all-you-can-eat data.
  • All in One 25 (£25) – 500 minutes, 3,000 texts and all-you-can-eat data.
  • 3,000 3to3 minutes (£5) – 3,000 Three-to-Three minutes.
  • 3,000 texts (£5) – 3,000 texts.
  • 500MB of internet (£5) – 500MB of data.
  • Internet daily (50p) – 120MB of data.
  • Add BlackBerry (£5) – One month of BBM, App World, Email and internet access.

This overhaul certainly seems to have put Three ahead in the competitive U.K. prepaid market. The new rates came into play yesterday, July 1, with all PAYG customers being automatically upgraded to the new pricing.

The full press release can be seen below.

Simple rates and clear value of 3p a minute, 2p a text and 1p a MB.
Flexibility that lets you pay only for what you use without the need to convert your credit.Today, Three launches a new simplified Pay As You Go offer with rates that will allow customers to top up and get great value across voice, text and internet use, paying only for the services they choose to use. In a market with a confusing 179 Pay As You Go combinations currently available, Three customers now have the flexibility to use their top up as they choose based on clear and simple basic rates of:

  • 3p a minute
  • 2p a text
  • 1p a MB of internet

Customers will not be forced to pick one value option over another. Pay As you Go price plans typically push people to make value trade-offs and choose between weekend or weekday use, UK or international calls, and use of texts, calls or data. Three’s new approach puts an end to confusing tariffs and value trade-offs by bringing Pay As You Go back to its roots. There’s no need to convert your credit to a 30-day add-on to get the best value. Credit lasts until the last penny is spent.

As the network built for the internet, Three’s cost per MB provides significantly better value than competitors’ standard rates.
Thomas Malleschitz, marketing director at Three said: “The number of complex Pay As You Go tariffs, Add-ons and options available is mindboggling. Consumers are forced into choosing where they want best value – whether that’s calls, texts or internet. Our new rates strip things right back to basics with a simple, clear and transparent rate for calls, texts and internet use that offers clear value across the board. It’s important to us that our Pay As You Go customers can use our Ultrafast network to chat, text and enjoy the internet without making a trade-off on value. This is Pay as You Go in its purest form.”
Once customers top up, they can use credit for talking, texting and the internet, safe in the knowledge that if they send more emails than text one month they won’t be penalised for doing the things they love on their smartphone.
Existing Three Pay As You Go customers can also enjoy Three’s new rates without having to change their tariff and they will be able to use their remaining credit as they wish. “We’re not just saving this for our new customers,” added Malleschitz.