Update: This plan has now increased to €10.99 per month
Not that long ago, I looked at Gomo’s unbelievable launch in Ireland. With parent company Eir looking to mop up the younger mobile market they offered unlimited calls, texts and data for €9.99 per month. Today, Three’s youth network 48 has undercut this even further with €7.99 for all calls, all texts and 100GB of data. So again I ask, what’s the catch with 48?
The Plan
The plan seems pretty straight forward. You pay €7.99 per month and in return, you can make all the calls you like to Irish landline and mobile numbers. Texts are included too. These are subject to fair usage as is the case with all mobile providers. A “fair use policy applies where your use of the 48 Services is deemed by us to be excessive or unreasonable”. On the 48 network, the “fair use threshold currently set at 3,000 minutes and 5,000 text messages for every monthly period”.
Unlike Gomo, 48 have stayed away from the ever problematic “unlimited” terminology. You could argue “all” is more confusing, but what they’re saying with “all” is more than you’ll need.
Again, with data, there’s no unlimited term here so 48 is avoiding one of the modern advertising pitfalls and clearly stating you get 100GB of data. Is that plenty? Well, you’ll know yourself. If you have WIFI you’re grand. If you’re hot-spotting a house, that’s not a lot of data. If you’re travelling, which I guess you shouldn’t be, you also get 10GB EU/UK Roaming.
The “membership” or monthly plan lasts for exactly one month. That means if you buy your membership on May 2nd, you’ll need to buy another on June 2nd.
What’s Different
48 is claiming to be changing up mobile and they certainly do have a fresh approach. First of all, the €7.99 is the cheapest in the market and for your money you get a lot in your plan. Eilis Fitzgerald of 48 said the network has “revamped our plans earlier this year with the intention of changing up mobile. We wanted to co-create a mobile network alongside our customers that truly works for them. We listened, listened again and then listened some more! We believe that we have created a membership plan that delivers the goods; loads of data, unlimited minutes and text with the flexibility to use it how they want to”.
But what does different mean? Well, the big one for me is that you can donate unused data. For every unused 1GB of data you have leftover at the end of the month, you can donate 50c to FoodCloud, 48’s chosen charity which tries to reduce food waste. You can also carry allowances into your next month, save 5GB for an emergency, share it with friends, swap minutes for data or borrow from a friend.
Is It Worth A Lash?
Simply put, it would seem that this is worth a go. The best part about 48 is that you can try out the network for free. Fill in your details and order a 1GB sim card to see if it tickles your fancy. If not, nothing lost. If it works out, you’ve got your phone fuelled for €7.99 per month.
The offer is available for all new people joining 48 before 10.11.2020.
