David McManus looks at the way in which we pay for using our mobiles

A lot of discussion has been made over the past couple of weeks about new charging plans in the US mobile phone market and whether such changes could find their way to these shores.

Earlier this month the last of the four dominant American telecoms companies, Sprint, joined its competitors T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon in dramatically dropping the prices it charges for monthly contracts.

But the new costs come with a price of their own. They will no longer subsidise new phones. The major carriers have decided (supposedly independently of each other) that they can no longer appear competitive if the high price of their contracts also includes a big percentage that is paying off the device chosen at the start of those contracts.

Americans currently pay a hefty price for their mobiles with monthly prices routinely reaching $100 (over £60). Tourists coming to the UK are astounded that they can pick up a sim card from a supermarket checkout with enough call time and data to last the duration of their stay for little more than a tenner.

By removing the forced hardware subsidies, the carriers can concentrate on providing a service and appear to be doing it at better value. As a consequence of this move, it will immediately become more transparent to consumers just how expensive their prized gadgets actually are, as they will now have to pay for new models upfront – something many simply won’t be able to do when top ranging handsets can reach $1,000.

To combat this problem, the carriers will offer leasing plans on phones. On top of your call and data plan, you will be able pay an extra monthly fee to lease the latest iPhone or Android model. On the surface this seems exactly like the old subsidy model, but there are minor advantages relating to the length of contracts and it should make it easier to simply hand back one phone and start a lease on a new one. It seems unlikely that this business model will find its way over here as we already have a popular and growing sim-only market.

For a couple of years now my preference has been to buy my phone upfront and then just pay for the data. Yes, that initial outlay can be high (although of course you ultimately pay it and more on a contract) but it brings the monthly expense down enormously.

My sim-only deal with Three is £15 a month for unlimited data and more calls and texts than I ever get close to using.

It also offers the ultimate flexibility when I want a new phone. Look after your current model and its resell price will be a significant way towards the next model.

Won’t someone think of the children? David Cameron is to make permanent a trial of putting age certificates on online music videos produced and hosted in the UK. Obviously, if a 16-year-old now loads up the latest promo from her favourite artist and sees an 18 badge prominently displayed, she will immediately hit the close button. This move gives the Government something that makes it look proactive when it actually has zero effect.