Usually there is no catch with free SIM cards, even pay as you go ones.
Put simply, the mobile phone networks want you as a customer. If they give you a free SIM card, then, you are likely to use their network and pay them money!
The longer you have your sim card, and therefore your number, the more you will give that number to friends and family. The more you do this the more difficult / more hassle it becomes to change contract / SIM card, and, at that point the network has you as a loyal customer.
It does not matter how much / how little you spend on your free sim card (in terms of the amount of call charges you incur), it is all profit to the network. SIM cards cost pennies, the administration / postage costs more than the SIM card itself. Even a few calls made on a card will put the network back into profit on the transaction.
Remember, the networks run on fixed costs, meaning their network is costing the same to maintain regardless of whether you use them or not, so, from their perspective, once you start using a PAYG sim card, it is money for old rope. They are making more money without having to spend any more on the network itself.
All that said, it is still worth shopping around for your card, after all, you do not want “any old sim card”! You want one with reasonable call charges, and, one from a network that has good coverage in the areas in which you want to use it!
Subscribe to RSS