Mobile Deals (includes 5G anticipation!)

Dirk Diggler · 25 Apr 2019 at 18:27

I did a search but couldn't see a regular updated thread for deals?

I'm in a bit of a unique position; I buy my phone handset separately and so only ever need a SIM deal. To complicate it a little further, I work offshore 3 weeks on 3 weeks off and it irks me to pay a monthly fee when I've literally used nothing for at least 3 full weeks and sometimes the whole month. Even when I'm home, I'm a fairly light user with under 100 mins, very rarely text and my data generally comes from WiFi.

I'm currently on O2 Classic PayG but it's the data that kills me. Even one day out and about can use up heaps of data, and at 1p/MB it's brutal.

Any suggestions, thrifty forum?

neoboy · 25 Apr 2019 at 19:14

What would you be happy to spend a month? Few networks like ID Mobile and Virgin Media do data roll over, so if say you have 2GB monthly allowance and don't use it, next month you have 4GB to play with. Quick look online says ID Mobile do unlimited texts and minutes with 4.5GB of data for £8 a month (rolling 1 month contract) or Virgin Media do 2GB for £6 but with a 12 month term.

Also if you're a Sky customer, they run half price offers on their SIM only deals once in a while and they also roll over your data. Not on at the moment though so not much use right now.

DJ85 · 25 Apr 2019 at 19:25

I’m sure o2 have just started a customise your own package sort of thing where you move the sliders based on what you want or need and they will give you a price, like above my wife is on Sky it’s pretty cheap especially if your already a sky tv customer.
I know how you feel I pay £54 per month and I work 3/3 as well. Next Time I’ll be sim only I think.

Dirk Diggler · 25 Apr 2019 at 19:27

@neoboy thanks for that. I never even thought of rollover data for some reason; I think that's the solution I need. I think around £10/month is my target for what I'd be consuming.

Actually, I just looked at ID mobile - £5/Month for 1GB rolling might be just the ticket. I'm glad I asked now as I'd never heard of them.

neoboy · 25 Apr 2019 at 20:43

They run off Three network so can check signal strength here.

booyaka · 26 Apr 2019 at 08:37

Virgin were doing £10 for 5gb sim only recently.

Dirk Diggler · 26 Apr 2019 at 09:09

booyaka said:
Virgin were doing £10 for 5gb sim only recently.

It's a 12 month contract which would be fine for a lot of people, but for me I'm looking for a monthly rolling contract.

Thanks for sharing.

UTmaniac · 26 Apr 2019 at 10:16

Three unlimited mobile data sim for £20pcm for 12 months?

I'm an extremely light call/text user, so I use a Three 3-2-1 sim for calls/texts, along with a ~£40 Three 24GB prepaid data sim from Amazon (that's valid for 24 months) for when I cannot use free wi-fi.

Jasoncmor · 27 Apr 2019 at 19:28

Mobiles.co.uk currently have an offer on, 12 month 02 Sim, unlimited texts and minutes and 9gb data, for £9 a month, its a cash back offer so they send you money back every other month so it works out to the £9.

https://www.mobiles.co.uk/o2-sim-only-deals

Its a little bit of work, but may be worth it.

Send your claim in line with the Cashback Claim Process below and we will credit you by cheque with £24.00 each time.

This will save you £120.00 over the 1 year of the contract. In effect this means that your average line rental per month over the contract period is £9 per month.

Cashback Claim Process:
Claiming your cashback couldn't be simpler. You will need to send in your mobile phone bill at months 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12

It's so simple to workout when you need to claim your cashback, please see the below table on when you should send your bills to us.

Bill Claim Amount
Bill Dated July 2019 £24.00
Bill Dated September 2019 £24.00
Bill Dated November 2019 £24.00
Bill Dated January 2020 £24.00
Bill Dated March 2020

marms · 28 Apr 2019 at 07:05

Have a look at smarty.co.uk they're £6.25 per month for unlimited calls and texts and 1gb data and give you money off your next bill for data you don't use.

ricid · 28 Apr 2019 at 10:55

Jasoncmor said:
Mobiles.co.uk currently have an offer on, 12 month 02 Sim, unlimited texts and minutes and 9gb data, for £9 a month, its a cash back offer so they send you money back every other month so it works out to the £9.

https://www.mobiles.co.uk/o2-sim-only-deals

Its a little bit of work, but may be worth it.

I'm always a little wary of these, had a cashback deal a while back where the provider (might have been phones4u?) went bust half way through - if that happens you're stuffed.

Double07 · 28 Apr 2019 at 22:21

String said:
@neoboy thanks for that. I never even thought of rollover data for some reason; I think that's the solution I need. I think around £10/month is my target for what I'd be consuming.

Actually, I just looked at ID mobile - £5/Month for 1GB rolling might be just the ticket. I'm glad I asked now as I'd never heard of them.

I pay a tenner a month of virgin mobile and I get 2500 mins, unlimited texts and 6GB data (3GB + double data deal thingy), with rollover. I dont use mine much either but for a tenner I thinks its good value.

Dirk Diggler · 11 May 2019 at 21:35

ID Mobile, 3GB / 1500 mins / unlimited text
£8/month.

Looks very tempting as it's got rollover data and only one month contract.

tom_e · 12 May 2019 at 10:29

String said:
ID Mobile, 3GB / 1500 mins / unlimited text
£8/month.

Looks very tempting as it's got rollover data and only one month contract.

That's what I've switched to, seems alright so far.

Dirk Diggler · 18 May 2019 at 17:54

Ah, so just as I take the deal for £8 they then add a better deal; unlimited mins & 4GB data for only £1 more; £9.

Can I shift my tariff onto a special like that once I've been with them for over a month, or is it just the standard tariffs that I can switch to?

neoboy · 18 May 2019 at 18:07

Say you want a PAC code to leave and they can offer all kinds of tariffs

Puzzled · 19 May 2019 at 18:06

I'm tempted to switch to Voxi as Virgin keep putting my bill up.

They do 6GB data, unlimited calls / texts for £10 a month on the Vodafone network, no contract.

Dirk Diggler · 19 May 2019 at 20:04

MonkeyMan said:
I'm tempted to switch to Voxi as Virgin keep putting my bill up.

They do 6GB data, unlimited calls / texts for £10 a month on the Vodafone network, no contract.

That looks like a good deal, TBF.

neoboy · 19 May 2019 at 20:46

That is one I'm switching to, Vodafone signal is good in my area and after checking my mobile data usage, apart from Spotify all the big data consumption is in the apps that are covered by their unlimited usage policy.

Dirk Diggler · 1 Jun 2019 at 11:19

Three now doing unlimited everything on SIM only for £20. Only catch is that it's a 24 month contract which usually wouldn't bother me if the deal was so good, but with 5G starting to launch it may be a tie to 4G that you wouldn't want?