# Old phone, aging owner - want to get free landline calls



## KayKew (12 Nov 2016)

Hello all
I have an old Nokia 2330c-2 phone which I don't particularly want to replace.  I use it only for phone calls and texts, and occasional 'reminders' on calendar.  I don't want internet access etc.  What I would like to know is how I can get a prepay package which will give me free calls to landlines in Ireland and free texts to all mobile networks.  I know more or less nothing at all about this sort of thing...don't know what data means...don't know what Bluetooth means...don't know what an app is...etc etc...(and I really have no particular interest in knowing either!!).  I just want to be able to phone Irish landlines and mobiles without paying an absolute fortune.  At the moment for example if I want to phone say an insurance company to get a quote, by the time I have actually got to speak to a human and got through the conversation, the call will have cost me several euros...and if I were to phone a couple more companies I could easily have spent a significant amount of money, to be added on to whatever premium I might end up paying.  Can anyone tell me a) what prepay packages might be available to me that are less than 20euros per month b) How would I get onto such a package, taking into account that my phone is 'ancient' by the standards of todays expectations (i.e. that we should all be 'updating/upgrading' everything on an annual basis and dumping whatever we had before!).  I definitely don't want to lose the messages etc.that I currently have on my phone, but don't understand how SIM cards work and whether or not a new one could be installed on my phone without losing whatever is on it at the moment. At the moment the company I pay in advance for calls etc. is Three (formerly O2). All advice/suggestions would be very welcome.  Thank you


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## moneybox (12 Nov 2016)

Have a read through the following link, meteor appear to offer a good deal for landline numbers.  You will have to port your current number over from three, basically gou just call three and ask them for your porting number.  I am not sure if you will lose your current messages but I think there is a thread on here outlining how you can save them onto a computer. Also there is a website where you can get landline numbers for most government/premium rate calls, it's called saynoto1890.com
You were able to go online to register and post on this website so you are not totally IT illiterate. Just google, all the info is at your fingertips


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## moneybox (12 Nov 2016)

Have a read through the following link, meteor appear to offer a good deal for landline numbers.  You will have to port your current number over from three, basically you just call three and ask them for your porting number.  I am not sure if you will lose your current messages but I think there is a thread on here outlining how you can save them onto a computer. Also there is a website where you can get landline numbers for most government/premium rate calls, it's called saynoto1890.com
You were able to go online to register and post on this website so you are not totally IT illiterate. Just google, all the info is at your fingertips


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## KayKew (12 Nov 2016)

Thanks very much for that information.  I know this will really sound ridiculous, but I have tried looking for a phone number for Three in the past and couldn't find one!!  Any idea where I can find it?  I had taken a look at the ***************** website alright, and there seemed to be an offer of a free SIM from a company called Lycaphone (or something like that)...the trouble is I don't know if/why I would need a new SIM and whether or not the 'new SIM' on offer would be usable in a phone as old as mine.  The website for getting landline numbers for government/premium rate calls sounds very useful....if I could first get free landline calls from my mobile!!  (I haven't got a landline anymore).  Anyway - thanks again for your help. Communications seem to have become a whole lot more complicated than in the days when you just looked up the phone book, lifted the phone receiver and dialled a number, and didn't need to know much about how the phone actually worked!!


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## JohnJay (12 Nov 2016)

you should pay a visit to your local phone shop and ask them for advice. Most of the providers these days offer a €15 per month "all in" package that will allow you free calls and texts. 
Be careful though - most of these packages dont usually include calls to "Lo-Call" numbers (numbers beginning with 1850, etc) that insurance companies, etc use.


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## KayKew (19 Nov 2016)

JohnJay said:


> you should pay a visit to your local phone shop and ask them for advice. Most of the providers these days offer a €15 per month "all in" package that will allow you free calls and texts.
> Be careful though - most of these packages dont usually include calls to "Lo-Call" numbers (numbers beginning with 1850, etc) that insurance companies, etc use.


Thanks very much for your help.  I will try to get to a phone shop in the next few days and see how I get on.


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## midleton (20 Nov 2016)

I agree with your intention of holding onto a phone that works for what you need. I am of same mind. I have had three phones in lifetime of mobile phones.......the first one I loved it was tidy one Sony and it died after a year or so later and when I went to phone shop to have it checked they said that that particular phone gave problems early and most were recalled..............nobody told me so I wasn' t able to get free upgrade.  So had to get another one and that lasted few more years and when that kicked the bucket I got my current one again Sony.  I am prepay and there seems to be no free upgrades for us prepayers.  I feel I pay way over the top (I was with 02 and now they are 3 and I am annoyed at what I pay.  I also have a landline cos I have Eircom broadband via line and that costs me too much too.  Those 1850 number or others and this thing of the customer having to ring and hold the line for what seems like hours till we get an agent should be outlawed.........we are being taken for fools and its we are footing the bill.  I like you asked for internet to be taken off my phone cos it was eating money........I have it on my computer don't need it on my phone.  I am thinking of taking a day a week and not holding or using my mobile...........ignoring it totally.........to see how nice it would be not to be attached and led by it.  If its urgent and somebody needs to locate me they will............they would have pre mobile phones................was a kinda nicer calmer less stressful time.  Phones make us panic when they ring, we have to jump to their call,  somehow its wrong that they are ruling us and not us them.  Time to make a stand and give the mobile a day or two off..........


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## dub_nerd (20 Nov 2016)

Midleton, I feel your pain. I've stopped carrying my mobile with the ringer on. It's either on silent, or I put it down altogether and check it once or twice a day. I've told people not to expect to be able to call me at a moment's notice. Also, I feel a lot of people are paying way more for their phone calls than they need to. Especially if you have broadband at home, you should be able to get most of your calls for practically nothing, including international ones. My calls from the landline cost, on average, less than €2/month. (Unfortunately there is no way around line rental and broadband costs). The last time I spent anything at all was when I topped up my VoIP account for a tenner on 23rd April! Also, whenever I am in WiFi coverage away from home, or even abroad, the mobile becomes an extension of the home phone, with the same rates.

For 1850/1890 numbers there are often geographical number alternatives. I had a half hour call with Bank of Ireland credit card security the other day. They have a 1890 number but also a geographical number. By using the latter, plus VoIP, the call cost me exactly zero. Unfortunately, getting the absolutely best deal involves a bit of technical know-how. I think there may be pages on askaboutmoney already about setting up VoIP. If not, message me if you would like some pointers.


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## AlbacoreA (20 Nov 2016)

48 have a €10 plan. 

http://www.48months.ie/membership-plans?gclid=CJKT29vBttACFa277Qodq4cEZA

https://www.comreg.ie/price-comparison/mobile-phone/calculator/
http://www.*****************.com/cheapest-mobile-phone-charges.html


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## moneybox (20 Nov 2016)

midleton said:


> I also have a landline cos I have Eircom broadband via line and that costs me too much too.



Middleton, your comment about having gone through 3 mobile phones in your time has put me thinking  I remember my first mobile a little black trium, a great little number that lasted a year or so.  I would be embarrassed to say how many I have gone through since then :-(

Would you consider going mobile with your broadband? They will provide you with a small device with a sim card and off you go. There is no need for a landline if you just need it for internet access. 
https://switcher.ie/broadband/compare/mobile-broadband/#/region_id=4&place_id=655


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## midleton (20 Apr 2017)

Apol moneybox just got to read your reply re mobile phone now.  Mobile with my broadband.  My broadband is via landline moden with Eir.  I like the old type keyboard.......not into the flat keyboard on laptop and def not into using internet on my mobile phone.  I am old school and started typing on a typwriter and separate keyboard alongside a PC is my preferred method of typing.


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