James Rowe: Is it finally time for you to ditch EE, O2, Vodafone, or Three and opt for a smaller yet cheaper mobile network instead?
Hello, I'm James Rowe and welcome to Which? Shorts, your free weekly insight into Which? magazine, as well as our money, tech, travel, and gardening titles, too. Today, I'm bringing you a piece that our mobile network expert, Adam Snook, wrote for the May issue of Which? magazine all about mobile networks. Now, nobody wants expensive monthly bills, annual price increases, or excessive roaming costs, but, thankfully, they can all be avoided by choosing the right provider. Here is Adam's piece, adapted for the podcast, this week read by Rob Lilley-Jones.
Rob Lilley-Jones: Price is the key consideration for most customers. Yet, too many aren't taking advantage of the incredible value that's available. In the past year, we've published lots of examples of how changing networks – particularly away from the big four of EE, O2, Vodafone, and Three – is essential if you want to save money on your mobile bills. And how much you need to spend is likely less than you think.
Our online article called "Why you shouldn't spend more than £8 on a phone contract" made people question why they were paying so much. Which? members even wrote in telling us how much they'd saved by switching networks, while even seasoned Which? colleagues, accustomed to identifying bargains, said it had inspired them to cut their bills.
Towards the end of last year, O2 announced that it was increasing its annual price rises from £1.80 a month to £2.50 a month for all new and existing customers. We spoke to O2 customers among Which? Stars and thoughts and found that, alongside frustration at the hike, was a sense of opportunity. One person saved nearly £300 a year by leaving O2.
We recently surveyed more than 5,000 mobile customers and found that price or value was the top reason for half of people choosing their mobile network. And the results show, once again, that there's no need to pay over the odds. Talkmobile and Tesco Mobile came out on top, ahead of a group of other strong performers – all of which are smaller, virtual providers that use the infrastructure of the big four networks.
There are essentially only four mobile network operators that own network infrastructure. These are the big four I mentioned earlier. The other mobile brands simply operate using one of these networks, so they offer the same coverage as one of the big four providers. So, what you're really paying for is customer service, contract flexibility, roaming policies, and perks, rather than network coverage itself.
1pMobile, one of these virtual networks, is a Which? Recommended Provider for the first time, as well as being named Great Value for a second year. In total, there are 10 endorsements across seven networks, demonstrating the breadth of excellent options available for mobile customers. Smarty and Talkmobile are the other providers that were named as Which? Recommended Providers and Great Value Providers. giffgaff and Lebara were named Which? Recommended Providers, while Asda Mobile and iD Mobile picked up Great Value status. At the other end of our table, Lycamobile, O2, and Three form a group of the lowest-rated networks, with few positives to recommend them.
The most common issue reported by mobile users in our survey related to their signal and coverage. To combat this, you can use our online map that charts mobile network quality to find the best network for your area. It shows how reliable the data connection is with different networks in postcode areas around the country. Rather than simply showing if there's coverage, it represents how often the quality is good enough to be usable, given as a percentage score. It also shows you which of the big four networks each smaller provider uses to help you choose the right one for you. You can try us out at which.co.uk/coveragemap. That's which.co.uk/coveragemap.
If you're put off by the effort of switching, be assured it doesn't take too long. Take Jackie Lynch, Which?'s Home Editor. After seven years with O2, and a gradual price increase of £10 a month, she switched to Smarty in just 10 minutes, saving her £19 a month. All she did was sign up on the Smarty website and request a porting authorisation code, or PAC, in order to keep her number. Number porting takes one working day during the week, so she did this well before the weekend. Smarty did all the rest and sent the SIM to her in the post.
But you don't have to use a physical SIM. eSIMs are becoming more popular. If your phone is eSIM-compatible, it's simply a case of using an app, link, or QR code to set up the service, rather than inserting a physical card. Most phones are now compatible with eSIMs, including the Google Pixel range starting from 2017, the Apple iPhone series from 2018, and Samsung Galaxy from 2020. Some devices are now eSIM-only, with the saved space inside sometimes used to increase the battery size.
Another advantage of eSIMs is that they offer a flexible way of using mobile data while travelling – especially useful if your usual provider doesn't offer data roaming as standard. Travel eSIMs are usually data-only, and are additional to your regular SIM, so you don't need to switch networks permanently. If your trip spans multiple countries, it's possible to buy a travel eSIM that covers an entire region.
You can read our reviews of eSIMs, as well as our reviews of UK mobile networks, on our website. The links to both are in the show notes.
James Rowe: Thanks for listening to this podcast from Which?, the UK's consumer champion. You can find plenty more advice about what we discussed today in the show notes. There, you'll also find a link to become a Which? member for 50% off the usual price – an offer exclusively available to you, our podcast listeners. Joining Which? will not only give you access to all of our product reviews, our app, one-to-one personalised buying advice, and every issue of Which? magazine across the year, but you'll also be helping us to make life simpler, fairer, and safer for everyone.
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