A contract phone can be better value than a payg phone if you get the right price and which at least offsets what you tend to spend on landline calls. I took the plunge last year and opted for a £5/mth contract which does the job for me and gives peace of mind about the service not being terminated as per payg. This combined with its internet access, camera/pics and other options which I've yet to look at and use have served to render the landline pretty much redundant for outgoing calls. In fact the landline now is really only a conduit for broadband and the occasional incoming call.
Orange sequestrated my payg account many moons ago due to lack of use. They trousered over £30 of the credit balance too and the fact that they were allowed to do that and maybe still could do so today speaks volumes about the lack of decent regulation in the utility markets. That type of practice is only acceptable in the minds of the expenses fiddlers and the characters they preside over the appointment of who are in many if not most cases but another cheek of the same fat backside.
