It is no secret that the price of the average phone has only increased in the past few years, and sometimes by quite a lot. For those of us who use phone loans to purchase their new devices, paying back on a monthly basis, this means that the potential repayments on new devices are becoming a significant barrier to upgrading.

Especially as phones now regularly cross the £700 mark, having a further option to increasse the length of the repayment period would help manage the financial burden of these, should customers wish to pursue this as an option. This is something that Tesco Mobile does with some success, it also recognises the fact that people are now holding on to their phones for longer and longer.

I'd like to propose that Giffgaff should follow suit, offering this as an option to customers looking to get a new device and stay with the network, and to keep their loan repayments manageable.

I came up with this idea as my phone will come to the end of its contract soon, and I'll be looking to offload it and choose another. Everything that even remotely appeals on this network (which I would like to stay with) will be too big a commitment to take on, as such the option offered by Tesco Mobile (and others) seems to be a good choice for continuing.