OK so some difference in cost per Gig is not necessarily a con, but there's a big difference in the rates, and my PAYG has gone up by O2 dropping the 2G for £13 deal. My problem with contracts is that I could not resolve problems with "3" and Vodafone PAYG. That cost money for no service but at least I was not locked into a contract. I don't trust any of them enough to risk being stuck in a contract where I get no internet access. Maybe with spectrum being a scarce resource, these days you can only expect that poor people will be squeezed out and marginalised.

I agree. I had "3" til it stopped working and after following call centre advice I had to rebuild Windows. Also gave up Vodafone after complicated problems. O2 has been a lot better except for 3 months of usable service only around midnight to 6am. Now O2 have dropped 2G for £13, and I had to buy 1G for £10. There's no sign to me of competition or any regulation to keep access affordable. I want to ask if there's a better deal but I'm new here and I don't know if it's been covered already. I can't make any sense of the offers. Virgin, ee etc. go on about things irrelevant to me like WiFi and internet in the car but I can't find deals for dongles with info about Gigs, price and 'use by' period.