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"Britons! Dedicated followers of fashion! If your clothes are loud (but never square) and you've just gotta keep up with the latest trends, then Phones 4u should be your next stop. The independent phone retailer is offering customers JUMP (short for \"Just Upgrade my Phone\"): a 24-month deal that'll let you upgrade your handset every six months. Rather than signing a vanilla deal with your carrier, you plump for a cheaper plan and then rent-to-buy the handset from the store. It's a little more complicated -- and costly -- than your average contract, so keep a calculator handy as you try to follow the math (sorry, 'maths') after the break.Show full PR text   PHONES 4U LAUNCHES 'JUMP'    New type of contract gives customers the freedom to change their  handset as often as every six months    10th February 2012: Phones 4u is today announcing the national rollout  of JUMP ('Just Upgrade My Phone') &amp;ndash; a new type of contract which  enables consumers to upgrade their mobile phone, from a selection of  the latest smartphones on the market, as often as every 6 months.    Differing from other flexible offerings on the market, JUMP doesn't  require any upfront fees at the point of upgrade and customers own  rather than lease the handset. For the added flexibility of being able  to upgrade as often as every six months, customers will only need to  initially pay an average added monthly cost of &amp;pound;2.99 - &amp;pound;3.99,  dependent on the original JUMP contract chosen.    JUMP has been successfully trialled since May 2011 in 100 stores. The  national rollout begins today and the offering is expected to be  available in all of Phones 4u's 586+ stores, via Phones 4u online and  via Phones 4u telesales by May 2012. We will also be supporting JUMP  as part of a wider multi-million pound ATL Phones 4u campaign this  year.    Alistair Firth, Director of Customer Development at Phones 4u said:  \"Technology is moving fast and innovative handsets are launching all  the time on the market but to date there's been a disconnect between  the frequency of smartphone releases and the length of mobile phone  contracts on offer.We want to give our customers the freedom to own  the very latest smartphones like the iPhone 4S without having to wait  18-24 months for an upgrade. The idea for JUMP was born out of  research we conducted that revealed people were frustrated by the  inability to upgrade their handsets sooner\".    JUMP's unique proposition is that instead of offering one contract to  customers with a mobile network, it's been broken down into two; one  with the airtime provider for minutes, texts and data and one with  Phones 4u for the handset, which are both for a minimum term of 24  months. This provides the customer with total ownership of the handset  and their monthly pay plan. When customers choose to upgrade, there is  no upfront fee involved &amp;ndash; they can trade in the handset, which Phones  4u guarantees will be worth at least &amp;pound;100 for the first 12 months[1],  along with up to two more, and create a new plan. Alternatively, they  do have the option of keeping it for themselves or giving it to  someone else.    \"We conducted extensive research prior to the trial and national  roll-out to inform the JUMP model and ensure it truly met consumer  needs\", adds Firth. \"We discovered 18-35 year olds don't want to  return a handset on a leasing model. This is because they are used to  keeping handsets as part of their mobile phone contract, they hold  concerns over losing data or voiding the warranty if they customize  the phone, and worry about paying a surcharge if the phone is damaged.  We used these findings to help shape the JUMP offering and believe it  offers the best flexibility and benefits of any deal currently  available on the market\".    As part of the JUMP service, Phones 4u is also offering remote data  back-up and storage for contacts, music, pictures and videos, as well  as dedicated customer support accessible via a dedicated number and  website. Phones 4u aims to attract new customers with the JUMP  offering, who want the option to own the latest smartphones when they  want, at an affordable monthly cost, and which offers additional  services currently not available as part of other smartphone  contracts.    Example plans to upgrade to the new iPhone 4S on JUMP    A customer could take out a standard contract for a non-iPhone device on a &amp;pound;35 a month tariff. Alternatively they could purchase it on JUMP for &amp;pound;37.99 on a 24 month agreement    Today on JUMP &amp;pound;37.99    Split as  Airtime commitment with Orange &amp;pound;15.00  JUMP service agreement 24months &amp;pound;22.99    Move to iPhone 4s after 6 months    Balance outstanding on JUMP  = 18months @ &amp;pound;22.99 &amp;pound;413.82  Trade in value of handset* &amp;pound;175.00  (You can trade in up to 2 more additional handsets to increase your total trade-in value and reduce your remaining balance further)    Balance remaining &amp;pound;238.82    Split over new JUMP contract (per month) &amp;pound;9.95  (No need to pay upfront)    Monthly cost of iPhone 4s on JUMP service agreement &amp;pound;28.49  + &amp;pound;9.95 over 24months    Total new JUMP cost &amp;pound;38.44    Plus airtime (dependent on airtime package chosen) &amp;pound;20.00    New monthly commitment &amp;pound;58.44    Move to iPhone 4s after 12 months    Balance outstanding on JUMP  = 12months @ &amp;pound;22.99 &amp;pound;275.88  Trade in value of handset* &amp;pound;150.00  (You can trade in up to 2 more additional handsets to increase your total trade-in value and reduce your remaining balance further)    Balance remaining &amp;pound;125.88    Split over new JUMP contract (per month) &amp;pound;5.25  (No need to pay upfront)    Monthly cost of iPhone 4s on JUMP service agreement &amp;pound;28.49  + &amp;pound;5.25 over 24months    Total new JUMP cost &amp;pound;33.74    Plus airtime (dependent on airtime package chosen) &amp;pound;20.00    New monthly commitment &amp;pound;53.74"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/10/phones-4u-jump-plan/>