The mobile phone that costs just 99p

By Rupert Steiner for the Daily Mail
Updated: 08:28 EDT, 6 November 2010

It is the mobile phone that can be bought for less than a cup of takeaway coffee.

Five for a fiver?: You're on!

A pay-as-you-go handset that costs 99p has gone on sale amid claims that it is the cheapest phone ever to become available.

Its backers want to attract first-time mobile owners who have no interest in the gadgetry offered by modern 'smartphones' - and experts say the handset is typical of a growing trend for throwaway accessories.

Customers can pick up the French-made Alcatel OT-209 at Carphone Warehouse if they buy £10 of credit for the Virgin mobile network. The handset has few features, is easy to use and there are no other fees except the cost of making calls and text messages.

But critics yesterday voiced concerns that the phone's price could tempt children to buy it and spend all their money on calls.

Margaret Morrissey of Parents outloud said: 'The danger is you buy this phone because it's cheap but then a child could end up running a huge phone bill on pay-as-you-go.

'Then there are the health concerns over children using mobile phones. I think there should be restrictions on who can buy it.'

The 99p phone is the latest example of Britain's throw-away culture. Tesco already sells jeans for £4, which have become popular with builders who throw them away at the end of a hard week. Ikea has pioneered the market for cheap furniture.

Trend guru Lloyd Burdett, of The Futures Company, said: 'There is a general trend towards shoppers not making large investments unless it's very special.

Otherwise they think "why spend more than 99p for something so long as it works?"'