Independent · nothing for sale

Plain notes on United Kingdom mobile networks

We are not a network and we sell nothing at all. These notes explain what each network gives you, what it costs across a year, where it falls short, and exactly what to do about it.

Seven network pages · fifteen topic pages · no prices published · written July 2026

What we do

Explain how each UK network works, in plain words
Set out what to check before committing to anything
Explain what a clause, a term or a charge actually means
Talk any of it through on the telephone, free of charge
Say plainly where a network is weak, popular ones included

What we do not do

Sell SIM cards, contracts, handsets or services
Take commission from any network on anything you buy
Accept payment for placement on any page
Publish prices, which go stale faster than we could correct them
Access, change or act on any account you hold

Notes on each network

Every network page works through fifteen numbered notes in the same order — the company, coverage, SIM plans, phone plans, prepaid, eSIM, broadband, roaming, data limits, monthly and yearly costs, price rises, the app, faults, PAC codes, and a plain summary of who it suits.

01ThreeCheap data and quick city 5G; thinner deep indoors and far out 02O2The biggest landlord in the market, and the only one still including Europe 03EEThe widest reach in Britain, at the highest prices 04Sky MobileBanked data and monthly resizing, on rented O2 signal 05VodafoneIts own separate estate, changing fastest as two networks merge 06Tesco MobilePlain pricing and loyalty discounts on O2's masts 07Budget brandsgiffgaff, SMARTY, iD Mobile, VOXI, Lebara and 1pMobile

Coverage before price. Everything else in this market is negotiable; a dead postcode is not.

Or start with the subject

If you know what has happened but not which network it concerns, start with one of these.

01SIM plansPlan lengths, sizing an allowance, and the free safeguards 02Phone plansOne calculation settles any handset offer 03PrepaidWho prepaid suits, and when it stops being cheap 04eSIMFree everywhere, and the fees that do not exist 05BroadbandTwo different products sold in the same words 06CoverageWhat maps show, and what only a month can tell you 07RoamingWho includes Europe, and the trap at sea 08Data limitsWhat unlimited actually covers 09CostsWhich number is really the price 10Price risesFive reasons up, five ways down 11AppsWhat the app is for, and the five-second test 12SwitchingTwo free texts, and what a network cannot do 13FaultsSix adjustments, and records for the rest 14ScamsWhy caller ID proves nothing 15The marketFour owners, and everybody else

Four habits that save most people the most money

1. Check coverage before you look at price

Run the network's own postcode checker and Ofcom's, and weigh the indoor figures most heavily. Where they disagree, one rolling month on a cheaper brand using the same masts settles it.

2. Buy the allowance you actually use

Your current app holds three months of real usage. Buy that average with modest headroom — people routinely buy about double what they consume.

3. Set the free protections on day one

Turn on Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling, set the free spend cap, and diary the contract end date with a reminder a month before it.

4. Spend ten minutes once a year

Compare what you actually pay against three rivals on the same allowance, then either switch or negotiate with those quotes in hand.

Would you rather just ask somebody?

Ring us and we will go through it with you. Nothing is offered for sale at any point.

020 3807 7759This number is for guidance and information only. We sell nothing, arrange nothing and act for no network. Ring it if any part of these notes leaves you unsure.

How we are placed. thurlowvance is an independent information service for mobile customers in the United Kingdom. We are not a mobile network. We have no affiliation with, endorsement from, appointment by or connection to Three, EE, O2, Vodafone, Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile or any other provider, and no commercial arrangement with any of them. We do not sell, supply, arrange or broker SIM cards, contracts, handsets or services of any kind, and we take no commission from anybody. Everything here is general information; a provider's own current terms always take precedence.

Ring us if these notes do not cover it

We hold no arrangement with any network, take no commission and sell nothing at all. If your question is not answered here, telephone and ask.

020 3807 7759Guidance and information only. We sell nothing and act for no network.