Now pre-pay users can benefit from 4G at no extra cost.
Tesco Mobile is now offering 4G for free on its Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) tariffs.
The mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), which uses O2’s network to provide its service, had already ditched the £2.50 premium it charged on pay monthly and SIM-Only tariffs at the beginning of this year, but has now extended the offer to PAYG users.
Existing PAYG customers will automatically be upgraded to a 4G connection (where available) as long as they’re using a 4G-enabled handset, while new customers will be able to get a SIM that offers 4G data for the same price as 3G.
The cost
Tesco Mobile has PAYG data bundles offering 500MB (£5 for 30 days), 1GB (£7.50), 2GB (£10), 3GB (£12.50), 4GB (£15), 6GB (£17.50) or 8GB (£20).
These can be combined with a bundle offering 5,000 texts for £5 and/or a bundle offering 150 minutes for £5 which lasts 30 days.
Outside of a bundle 4G data will be charged at 10p per megabyte while calls cost 25p/min and texts 10p/min.
PAYG deals don’t come with a handset so you will need to get one separately and you’ll need to make sure it is 4G-ready to benefit from 4G speeds.
Tesco has six 4G-ready handsets available for PAYG users. These include the Nokia Lumia 635 (£119), Motorola Moto G (£145), Apple iPhone 5c 8GB (£409), HTC One M8 (£515), Sony Xperia Z2 (£540) and the Samsung Galaxy S5 (£545).
4G on PAYG
When 4G first launched in October 2012 it was only available with EE (a partnership between T-Mobile and Orange), which meant prices weren’t very competitive.
But now Vodafone, O2 and Three now also offer the service as well as some MVNOs associated with these networks like Tesco Mobile, which has driven costs down.
However, only a few providers offer 4G for PAYG customers.
EE, O2 and Three all cater to these users along with Tesco Mobile. Giffgaff, another O2 MVNO, is currently trialling 4G PAYG with existing members, while Vodafone does not offer this option but says it has plans to launch it very soon.
How Tesco Mobile compares
So how does Tesco Mobile compare to other big 4G PAYG providers?
EE offers data add-ons of 100MB (£3), 500MB (£6), 1GB (£10), 2GB (£15), 4GB (£20) or 10GB (£30), which can be combined with texts (400 for £2 or 3,000 for £5) and minutes (100 for £3, 200 for £5 or 500 for £10). These bundles last 30 days. Outside of a bundle you will be charged 30p/min for calls and 12p for texts (data is not available outside of a bundle).
Three offers the All in One 10 bundle which costs £10 and comes with 500MB of data, 100 minutes and 3,000 texts or the All in One 15 bundle which costs £15 and comes with unlimited data, 300 minutes and 3,000 texts. Both last 30 days. Outside of a bundle calls are 3p/min, texts cost 2p and data is1p/MB.
O2 offers Big Bundles that last 30 days. You can get 200 minutes, 2,000 texts and 1GB of data for £15 or you can get double this allowance at 400 minutes, 4,000 texts and 2GB of data for £20. Outside of a bundle calls are 35p/min, texts 12p a message and data 30p/MB.
At the moment Tesco Mobile offers a good range of deals but can be beaten on price by EE and Three.
It’s not all about price
Apart from getting the best price, the other factor to consider when going for a 4G deal is the coverage a network has.
As EE had a ten-month head start on its rivals, its 4G service reaches the most. In total EE covers 73% of the population, with 229 towns and cities up and running.
Vodafone has 263 towns and cities live, while O2's 4G service (and Tesco Mobile which shares its network) has 4G set up in 217 towns and cities.
In contrast Three’s service is available in just 30 towns and cities.
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