The mobile phone marketplace has rapidly evolved into one of the most competitive consumer marketplaces out there. At no time is this more evident than around the time when your existing mobile phone contract is set to expire. It is interesting, if a little infuriating to receive an avalanche of calls from networks and resellers all offering you different deals at different costs and varying packages. For those of us who are not particularly interested it can be easy just to let your existing contract roll on for another year and accept the first terms that come your way. That way you can avoid the boredom of sitting through some poor workers sales pitch every night. But taking the easy route and allowing the network to roll over the contract without reviewing the terms available on other contracts and providers is tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot – or the wallet at least.

The networks are working hard to differentiate themselves but their position of market dominance that was taken for granted only a few years ago is being eroded and the consumer options are wider than ever. Competition of tariffs between the networks is supplemented by the work of the resellers – both high street and online who buy in bulk from the networks at discount and pass some of the discount on the customer, often undercutting the original network deals. High street mobile phone dealers increase user choice simply by stocking offers from various networks to allow the customer to compare the best mobile phone deals. The online marketplace has expanded rapidly over the last few years and these retailers claim to offer the very best mobile phone deals due to their ability to undercut the High street simply by having lower overheads. Again the deals are the same as the networks and include the latest handset models, accessories and extras but at a cheaper price than dealing directly with the network.