A MOBILE-PHONE war has broken out as providers fight for new custom. The mobile firm 3 is giving away money to pay-as-you-go customers when they receive calls and texts, and T-Mobile is hoping to shake up the contract market.

But are the deals as good as they seem? The Wepay tariff from 3, launched last week, gives pay-as-you-go customers 5p for every minute they are on the phone to an incoming caller and 2p credit for every text message received. Credits can be claimed when customers buy a new top-up voucher.

Pay-as-you-go phones, with vouchers bought to cover call costs as and when needed, generally appeal to light mobile users and parents who do not want children to ring up big bills.

Graeme Oxby at 3 said: “Anyone who regularly receives calls and texts on a pay-as-you-go phone could end up better off by moving to 3. You pick up, we pay up.”

But you cannot take the money as cash: you have to take it as a voucher that buys more call time or a monthly bundle of calls or texts.

And there are other catches. Anthony Ball at Onecompare.com, a price-comparison service, said: “You don’t get cash credits for all incoming calls and messages. Text messages sent from non-3 customers overseas and calls from 3 customer services do not qualify.

“You only get 5p credit for each full minute of an incoming call. So if you’re on the phone for one minute and 59 seconds you would be credited with only one minute.

“Perhaps the biggest sting in the tail is that you are only eligible for a cash credit up to the value of the top-up voucher.”

Say you bought a £10 voucher to cover call costs. You receive 300 minutes of incoming calls, worth £15 in credits under the 5p-per-minute scheme. But you would be able to claim only £10 worth of credits. This could limit the benefit of 3’s offer, particularly if you do not use your mobile much.

Even if you do use your phone regularly for outgoing calls, Wepay is unlikely to be the best tariff. It charges 30p a minute for outgoing calls and 10p for texts, compared with 15p a minute for calls and 5p for texts with Fresh, Tesco Mobile Value Sim or Easymobile.

O2 also has a competitive pay-as-you-go tariff. Its Online Talkalot package gives 100 free minutes of calls or 100 free texts for every £10 voucher. Someone who makes 60 minutes of calls and sends 100 texts a month would pay only £10.

Wepay would cost £22 — assuming no calls were received. If 100 minutes of calls and 100 text messages were received, cash credits of £7 would cut the cost to £15 — still more expensive than 02.

If you are a light user, a pay-as-you-go tariff is likely to be better than a contract. If you make an average of 30 minutes of calls at peak times, 30 minutes off-peak and send 100 text messages a month, it would cost you £14 on Fresh pay-as-you-go — assuming you already had a handset.

If you had a contract with 3 on its Talk & Text 200, the monthly cost to make that number of texts and calls would be £20. However, if you use your phone more often, a contract is likely to be a better bet.

T-Mobile has announced a new tariff aimed at shaking up the contract market, to be launched on March 1. At present with most contracts, you get a set number of phone-call minutes and texts included in the monthly cost. T-Mobile’s Relax 150 (18) Self Service Plus Text package at £25 a month includes 150 minutes of calls to any UK landline or mobile and 100 text messages.

If you exceed your allowances you will be charged for each call made or text sent. Calls to UK landlines and other T-Mobile phones are 10p a minute. If you phone another network, it is 25p a minute and texts are 10p each.

But from next month T-Mobile will offer an alternative package — Flext, with six tariffs to choose from. Instead of getting a set number of calls and texts, you get a fixed amount that you can spend how you like.

If you opt for Flext 35, you can make up to £35 worth of calls or texts a month. You could make 900 minutes of calls every month or send 1,800 text messages — or use your phone for a mixture of both. You can also send picture messages. You are in effect paying 3.9p a minute for calls and 1.9p to send a text message, although costs vary depending on the Flext tariff you select.

T-mobile will send customers weekly text alerts showing how much they have spent so far that month. If you exceed your monthly allowance you must pay 20p a minute for calls and 10p per text message.

Ball said: “On the surface the Flext tariffs look very good value, particularly Flext 35. But if you go online you can get better deals. It will be interesting to see if T-Mobile decides to offer discounted versions of Flext through online retailers.”

All the main mobile operators offer internet deals. For example, if you went into an O2 store, Carphone Warehouse or The Link, O2’s 200 tariff would cost £30 a month for 200 minutes of calls and 100 text messages. But you could get this package free on the internet.

The Phones2udirect.co.uk, mobileshop.co.uk, mobileoutlet.co.uk and coolnewmobile.co.uk websites are all offering this deal with 12 months’ free line rental. You would also get double talk and text for the first three months (400 minutes plus 200 text messages). An itemised bill is 99p a month. But after 12 months you will be charged the standard £30-a-month tariff — unless you switch to a different deal.

CHILD’S PLAY

JACK WILLIAMS, 9, received a mobile phone for Christmas. His parents, Craig and Anne opted for a pay-as-you-go phone from T-Mobile rather than a contract deal.

Craig, a police officer from Liverpool, said: ‘Jack wanted a mobile so that he could text his friends, but it is also good for us because it helps us keep an eye on him.

We decided to get him a pay-as-you-go phone because it meant we could keep track of how much he is spending — and it will also help him to learn about the value of money.’