Linuxluver:

Kilack: 

Sorry but I think you are still missing it...we are talking about phones sold on a 24 month contract,  that is where they make their money.
That is why vodafone UK and loads of carriers all over the world give the phone away for _free_ or dirt cheap cause they make so much $$ on the locked in contract.
Just like printers are almost given away these days and they make the $$ on the ink.
its an old business principle, don't think for one second vodafone nz aren't making a killing here both on the sale of the phone and on the plan after.  That is fine of course they are a business but it's disturbing how so many kiwis are so keen to get walked over and think big companies are actually looking after them and giving things out as cheaply as they can without hurting their profits. Time for compulsory business courses in high schools here I think.

Two things are very different in NZ:

1. Many more people on pre-pay than most other places.
2. People txt more than they phone.

Both those things mean margins have to be loaded up elsewhere....and I agree the contracts carry a big chunk of that.

If it s rip-off? Having seen how Canadian telcos work, I get down on my knees and kiss the windows of the nearest Vodafone store whenever I come back from North American telco hell. They pay for incoming and outgoing calls and txts and pxts.....unless they pay bigger bucks. They also pay tolls on calls outside their local area....and that's pretty much *everywhere* more then 20 kms from their front door - wherever they live. Incoming and outgoing. Their pre-pay top-ups last as little as 30 days with a minimum of $20....and remember you pay for incoming. My first month in Canada was on pre-pay and I spent $130 and calling no one. No txt bundles. No one I dealt with there txts. I started sending txts (25c each) and the reciptients either didn't see them, didn't know how to answer them, or asked me to stop as they pay 25c to 50c to receive them. 

I had what I thought was a good plan: 750 minute, in & out, nationwide (Canada) with unlimited Internet data....for $180 / month (NZ$250-ish). But I couldn't send txts out side the US & Canada until they were sure I was going to do a runner. I had to put down a C$500 deposit to even open an account...and they gace it back to me 4 months after I closed it. 

NZ cellcos aren't a rip-off in my view. I've seen far worse. 

Ok...you're talking about the UK. Maybe they are better. But it would be a short list.