'Proper' PAYG 2G phone network

[bishop finger]

Do they still exist?

Seeking a 2G PAYG phone network like the olden days - the type where your PAYG phone is loaded with a fiver and it stays on your account indefinitely until it's used. The phone is used infrequently for basic text messaging with the odd phone call, no smart 4G stuff, just the basic 2G dumb phone.

None of the £2 / day to send a single text message where your given no option but given unlimited use for that particular day, that I don't need or use which ends up being unreasonably expensive

[ARHarh]

2g was a network type which has not existed for some time, 3g is even being removed. But I guess that's not what you mean.

I don't know of any pay as you go sims that allow you to not use your phone without incurring some kind of cost. After all if they allowed that they would run out of phone numbers pretty quickly with loads of registered numbers doing nothing in drawers.

[QuartzDad]

My mum hasn't used her phone in 2 years, it sits in my drawer. It's received roughly six text messages in that time. I haven't had to do anything else to keep it live. It still has £7 of giffgaff credit.

[.:ian:.]

You can still buy O2 321 payg sims on Ebay. 3p Calls, 2p texts, 1p/MB data, top up what you want and it stays there forever, though like most they terminate the sim after 6 months of inactivity.

[alangla]

Asda do really good sims on this basis. Just make sure you send a text or make a call at least once every 6 months to keep the sim active. 10p per text
https://mobile.asda.com/rates-and-charges
The sim will be a 5G capable one but it’ll run on any 2/4/5G capable device, network is Vodafone underneath, so no 3G

[James_N]

Surely 1p mobile is the answer here:

ONE SIMPLE
PAY-AS-YOU-GO
TARIFF
1p a minute, 1p a text, 1p a MB
No contract. No hassle. No monthly fee.

We offer 4G/5G at no extra cost, giving you fast mobile data, as well as 2G for those with older mobile phone handsets.

https://www.1pmobile.com/siminfo?simtype=STD

[silentbrown]

James_N said:

Surely 1p mobile is the answer here:

Minimum spend of £2.50 every 30 days now.
https://www.1pmobile.com/terms-and-conditions?d=ma...

[Ham_and_Jam]

ARHarh said:

2g was a network type which has not existed for some time, 3g is even being removed. But I guess that's not what you mean.
.

That’s not correct.

The Government’s current plan is to make 2G available until 2033 as a backup service. 3G is being switched off before 2G.

[Davie_GLA]

I’d love this. I long for the days of the Sony Ericsson T28 World with the original full size sim cards.

[spikeyhead]

2G is still very efficient for text messages, and has great coverage, whereas 3G is worse coverage and no good for anything compared with 4 & 5G, hence 3G is getting turned off before 2G

[QuartzDad]

Davie_GLA said:

I’d love this. I long for the days of the Sony Ericsson T28 World with the original full size sim cards.

<Crocodile Dundee mode>

Pfft, now *this* is a full size SIM card, was only a few years ago I cleared out my reserve backup bottom drawer and binned an Orange MR1 handset.