Best Value-for-money Mobile Network [Data Plan] in PT 🇵🇹

[nelsonic]

Context

Due to BREXIT I'm unable to use my UK mobile number in PT longer term. 🤦‍♂️

Lack of Competition --> High Prices

Been using the NOWO network for the past couple of years: https://github.com/nelsonic/nelsonic.github.io/issues/781 it's garbage. I wanted the lowest possible monthly cost because I seldom use data away from the house. Thinking 500mb would be enough I signed up to the €7.50/month plan. On several occasions in the last 2 years I have been trying to work or trying to send someone a Signal message. Since Signal (or any other messaging service) uses the Mobile Data, if you run out of data - NOWO cut you off completely - and you are stuck. But it's not just messaging, since the NOWO App uses mobile data to check your status or update your account settings, you can't even add more data if you run out. It's like being stuck in a foreign land without your passport. But when border control sees you don't have a passport they confiscate your wallet too!!

 Woo?

Woo has the policy that they never cut you off even if you run out of data on your plan:

[nelsonic]

I need to switch to the PT (Apple) App store in order to get the Woo App. But then I need to have the UK App store for other Apps like Monzo ... 🙄 I think I'm going to setup one of the iOS Test Devices with a brand new PT iCloud/App Store account and then have it as my PT phone with the bare min of apps. And keep my current iPhone 11 https://github.com/nelsonic/nelsonic.github.io/issues/31#issuecomment-625860943 with the UK App Store. When the iPhone 14 comes out in September I will be getting one of those for work-work. So will use that as my "Daily Driver" with the PT App Store and keep the iPhone 11 as my UK Phone with banking apps and OTPs, etc and it will never leave the house for extra security.

[nelsonic]

https://www.yorn.net/yorn/tarifario.html it's a deliberately unclear tariff page see if you can spot the subtle dark pattern:

The bandwidth is quoted per month but payment is per week ... and since most months have more than 4 weeks, it actually works out pretty expensive.

A less dark pattern table would be:

Bandwidth	Monthly Cost	Calc
1GB	€11.92	= 52 x 2.75 / 12
5GB	€17.29	= 52 x 3.99 / 12
10GB	€21.62	= 52 x 4.99 / 12

One of the biggest selling points of the Yorn [virtual] network is they give you 15GB to use with well-known apps:

The only one on this list that interests me is Spotify.

limited to people under 25. But there's a way around it. 💭

[nelsonic]

Placed the order. ✅ ⏳

[nelsonic]

Transferred my PT number from NOWO 👎 to WOO 🚀 These made-up brand names are a bit of a joke. 🙄 WOO is an MVNO https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_virtual_network_operator uses the NOS network https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NOS_(Portuguese_company) Network quality is decent and most importantly I'm not going to run out of data with 4Gb.

The single most important selling point for me was the fact that if the 4Gb/month is exhausted, they don't cut me off. instead they allow continued but reduced bandwidth access and no streaming. i.e. if you run out of data in the middle of nowhere you still have enough access to check email, do google searches and crucially access the internet to buy more data!!