Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The consumer group Which? is calling on mobile providers to automatically unlock phones at the end of contracts and to sell them unlocked to pay-as-you-go users.
Locked phones are restricted to a single network and Which? says this discourages users from switching providers and finding a better deal. Customers can pay to have handsets unlocked, allowing them to use a sim card from another network – but rules and charges vary between providers.
Which? found that Virgin charged £15.32 to unlock a handset and Tesco £20 within the first 12 months of a contract. While O2 charged £15 for pay-as-you-go users, those on a contract could have their handset unlocked at any time without charge. GiffGaff and Three provide all devices unlocked.
The Unlock Better Mobile Deals campaign also accuses providers of not putting consumers on the best tariff.
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "Mobile phones are an essential part of daily life for many people and consumers shouldn't be locked into contracts that do not suit their usage. We want to send a message to mobile phone companies that they should help customers get a better deal by alerting people that their contracts are about to end and by unlocking handsets for free."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments