What to consider when sourcing your company mobiles, and which mobile phone company is right for you? The answer may not be what you expect.
When considering the right network for your company mobiles it’s best to use the most up to date information to make your decision. Often people have a negative view of mobile phone companies based on an experience they had with poor coverage five years ago when they vowed never to go back to that network! But new masts get put up and signal strengths change, so don’t dismiss any one network out of hand. Here are some areas to consider when choosing your company mobiles:
Pricing & your company mobiles: deal direct or use a dealer?
It’s a common misconception that you will get a better price if you deal directly with a network rather than through a 3rd party. It seems to make logical sense – surely the network will offer the best price because there isn’t a middleman adding a percentage?
As a telecoms provider to business, you’d probably expect us to argue that this isn’t true, but really – it isn’t! Dealers not only have access to exactly the same pricing as a salesmen in a high street shop or in the mobile phone company’s call centre, but if they are a good dealer their motivation will not be the same as the phone company’s salesperson. The salesperson will often (or usually) be thinking about the commission to be earned, but a good dealer will want a long term relationship and will be happier to make less commission in return for sourcing exactly the right package for the business on the most appropriate mobile phone company’s network.
These days, unlimited calls and texts are almost always included, so there are only two major drivers of price difference – data and handsets.
Data usage on your company mobiles
It’s really important to analyse and fully understand what your company mobiles data requirements are. Different mobile phone companies offer different data packages, which in addition may be a data allowance per user or a pooled data allowed shared across all users.
How much data you are currently using is not necessarily what you will be using towards the end of the contract. Technology changes and people’s individual habits changes, so in eighteen months’ time your company mobiles may be using twice as much data as currently. So it’s worth future-proofing yourself, although clearly if you’re only averaging 1GB of data per user per month you probably don’t need a tariff with 50GB per user!
Overspend on data usage can be a major earner for mobile phone companies. Although tariffs are quoted as offering Gigabytes of data, overspend is calculated in megabytes which has the convenient impact of making it sound quite cheap. But 5p per megabyte equates to £50 per Gigabyte so your employees could rapidly rack up additional charges.
Which handsets for your company mobiles?
As well as data, the other obvious price differentiator is the handset you choose. Clearly the top of the range iPhone is going to cost more than a mid-range Samsung if you were to buy one off the shelf, so if it’s included in the monthly cost the impact will be significant. That much is obvious.
There are, however, different ways to put together the right mobile phone package for a business. The handset and the SIM card are two different things. When purchasing a business mobile phone contract direct from a mobile phone company then you may be tempted to get the handset as well, but a dealer can offer a wider range of alternatives. For a start, you could upgrade only some of the handsets, and retain a hardware fund to upgrade other company mobiles at a later date. Or you could opt for refurbished handsets which, just like nearly-new cars, can offer a significant saving.
Network coverage for your company mobiles
Inevitably there are variations in network coverage, so this is something worth checking. There are only 4 networks in the UK – all other providers are actually Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), whose signal should be identical to the mobile phone company they are piggybacking.
EE
As the result of the merger of T Mobile and Orange, EE has probably the best coverage in the UK, although like the others there are some blackspots. Their coverage checker is here: https://ee.co.uk/why-ee/mobile-coverage. EE are actually owned by BT, and BT Mobile uses the EE network, as does Asda, Virgin Mobile and Plusnet.
O2
Like EE, O2 offers excellent coverage. Their checker is here: https://www.o2.co.uk/coveragechecker. The O2 network is used by Sky Mobile and Virgin Mobile. However, as a business dealer the game changer for us is Plan.com who use the O2 network and offer one of the most innovative and powerful systems amongst UK mobile phone companies. As well as having a completely customisable range of tariffs to suit each individual business, it incorporates a range of alerts, tracking systems and functionality which isn’t offered by any other network. We are great lovers of Plan, so contact us to find out why we are so enthusiastic.
Vodafone
Our experience is that Vodafone coverage can be patchy outside major cities, although it’s worth looking at their signal checker to see if this isn’t the case for you: https://www.vodafone.co.uk/network/status-checker. Vodafone does benefit from an excellent global roaming package which allows you to use your data allowance in over 150 countries – great if you are a regular business traveller outside of Europe.
3
3 or Three has not traditionally concentrated on the business market and has fewer MVNOs using its network. However, one excellent provider for business users is the Gamma network which piggybacks on 3 and is built specifically for businesses. Their coverage map is here: http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Network/Coverage.
More than one network?
Mobile phone companies will all claim they have the best network everywhere but as users we know that’s not the case. If staying connected at all times is crucial to your business, then one option to consider is more than one network for one or more of your company mobiles. There are two options:
A handset with multiple sims. You can then use whichever network is stronger.
A multi-network sim card. Ideal if your phone (like most) has only one SIM card slot. We offer the Gamma MultiNet sim which defaults to the Gamma (3) network but automatically changes to another network in areas of weak signal.
Wifi Calling
The other option to consider is wifi calling on your company mobiles. Poor network coverage is often more of an issue indoors because of walls, steelwork, etc degrading the mobile signal, but this is exactly where wifi signals are strongest. So your office may be in an area of poor indoor coverage, but wifi calling solves this problem. All four mobile phone companies offer this as an option.
Roaming
Another thing to consider for your company mobiles is the extent to which you or your staff travel abroad. Whilst European roaming is currently (in 2019) included in tariffs, this may not be the case in the future and during your current contract. Outside of Europe, data charges can rapidly increase if you don’t have the correct bolt-on to your tariff. The answer to this is to plan with your dealer ahead of travel.
