I want to pick up a cheap and cheerful simple phone to stick in my pack in case of emergencies, and so as not to risk my smartphone in my numerous close encounters of the stoney kind. I’m with O2, but have been very disapointed with the lack of signal anywhere outside towns or citys. Any ideas what the best network is for coverage out in the sticks?

O2 and Vodafone seem to have the best coverage anywhere I think I might need to rely on it, certainly true for the Scottish Highlands. The problem is that signals disappear in valleys. Climb any decent hill and you’ll find it suddenly starts working again.

I’m with T Mobile and very happy with their coverage. Been getting better as well as they have either merged with, or agreed to share, Orange transmitters where network coverage is poor. occasionally my phone will say T mobile Orange and they must be switching off duplicate transmitters as its going to orange more frequently.

Depends on the stick. Different operators have different coverage, there’s not really a ‘best’.

On the upside, PAYG SIMs are cheap / free. Get an unlocked phone and a handful of SIMs. (I’m on O2 and picked up an Orange PAYG SIM purely for Orange Wednesdays.)

Try and get hold of a foreign PAYG, they should be set to roam and will pick up the strongest network. So what if the emergency call costs a couple 0f €s if you get home safely.
Don’t all mobiles allow proper emergency calls regardless?

If you want to be absolutely sure you can make contact I think the latest SPOT trackers can let you sent texts anywhere you can get satellite coverage in conjunction with a “smartphone” whatever that means exactly. As well as the, press a button, send a preset message of the old ones.

If you know where you are going then have a look at the below site which lists all phone masts in the country

http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/search

Orange and T-Mobile are in the process of merging their networks so will have the biggest network which will eventually be rebranded Everything Everywhere but 3 also have a deal to share sites with T-Mobile and I believe they share roaming but I’m on 3 and they are rubbish.

O2 and Vodafone share sites and may merge networks in the future but that is much less progressed than Everything Everywhere.