CMLink UK offers 5G Super Plans from £8.88/month with super-fast 5G speeds and inclusive roaming in the EU, Mainland China & Hong Kong.

In the UK, CMLink is now offering 5G Super Plans from £8.88 per month. Available on a one-month rolling basis with no contract and no credit check, you’ll get an allowance of 4G & 5G data on your plan. You’ll also get an allowance of local minutes, with 1000 international minutes and unlimited UK texts included.

The new 5G-ready plans will allow you to access an average download speed of about 130Mbps on your phone. You’ll also benefit from more network capacity as well as a lower latency connection.

In this article, we’ll look at the new 5G Super Plans from CMLink UK. We’ll start by looking at the CMLink network and the benefits of upgrading to their new 5G service. We’ll then look at their 5G Super Plans and other features you’ll get included on the CMLink network.

What is CMLink?

In the UK, CMLink is a mobile virtual network operator that offers one-month rolling plans with 4G & 5G coverage.

Operated by the international subsidiary of China Mobile in the UK, CMLink offers inclusive international minutes as standard on all of their plans. You’ll also get inclusive roaming when travelling in the EU and selected destinations along with Mainland China and Hong Kong.

In addition, customers with a China Mobile phone number in Mainland China or Hong Kong can attach that phone number to their UK SIM card using the CMLink 1-Card-Multi-Number service.

When using a CMLink 5G Super Plan inside a 5G-ready phone, you’ll see three key benefits compared to using a normal 4G SIM card:

  1. You’ll benefit from faster download speeds when connected to 5G. You’ll get an average download speed of around 130Mbps on CMLink’s 5G network. This compares to an average download speed of about 30Mbps when using 4G.
  2. 5G networks have more network capacity. As 5G networks have much more capacity available, they’re less likely to slow down in busy urban areas with a lot of people (e.g. in sports stadiums, shopping centres and train stations). This means you’ll stay connected a lot more reliably on your phone.
  3. 5G has a lower amount of latency. Latency refers to the amount of time it takes for data to travel from your phone to the internet and back. You’ll benefit from a lower amount of latency when using 5G coverage. This is beneficial for online gaming and new technologies like augmented reality.

If you’re using a CMLink SIM card inside a 4G-only phone, you’ll still be able to access 99% population coverage on 4G. You’ll also continue to get the other benefits of the service, but without the faster speeds made available by 5G.

CMLink UK 5G Super Plans

At present, CMLink offers the following 5G Super Plans from £8.88 per month:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
CMLink500Unlimited5GB£8.88
CMLink500Unlimited12GB£10.88
CMLink2,000Unlimited30GB£15.88
CMLink2,000Unlimited100GB£19.88

In addition to your inclusive allowance of UK minutes, UK texts and UK data, you’ll also get 1,000 international minutes included for calling 10 selected destinations. There’s also a separate roaming data allowance included on your plan, giving you data that can be used in the EU and selected destinations, Mainland China and Hong Kong.

All of the 5G Super plans work on a one-month rolling basis so you’ll only need to pay for one month’s usage at a time.

CMLink UK Features

Inclusive International Minutes

All of CMLink’s UK plans include a monthly allowance of 1,000 international minutes. You can use them to call phone numbers in the following 10 destinations:

  • Australia (+61)
  • Canada (+1)
  • Hong Kong (+852)
  • Japan (+81)
  • Macau (+853)
  • Mainland China (+86)
  • Singapore (+65)
  • Taiwan (+886)
  • Thailand (+66)
  • USA (+1)

The international minutes are in addition to your allowance of local minutes. Within the UK, your local allowance of minutes can only be used for UK-to-UK calls. However, you can also use them when you’re travelling abroad for phone calls from the EU to other EU & UK phone numbers. In addition, if you’re travelling to Mainland China or Hong Kong, you can use the local minutes to call phone numbers in Mainland China and Hong Kong.

If you’re calling a phone number in any other international destination, you can check the per-minute rates on the CMLink UK website.

Roaming in EU, China & Hong Kong

All of CMLink’s UK plans include a roaming data allowance, so you can continue using your mobile phone abroad at no extra cost.

The roaming data allowance can be used across the EU and in other selected destinations (with the notable inclusion of Turkey). You’ll also be able to use your roaming data allowance in Mainland China and Hong Kong, which is a significant benefit as most other mobile networks will charge you a premium for this.

The following table shows the amount of roaming data you’ll get included on your CMLink 5G Super Plan:

CMLink 5G Super Plan Roaming Data Allowance
5GB plan (£8.88 per month) 1GB roaming data allowance
12GB plan (£10.88 per month) 4GB roaming data allowance
30GB plan (£15.88 per month) 10GB roaming data allowance
100GB plan (£19.88 per month) 10GB roaming data allowance

1-Card-Multi-Number Service

If you have a China Mobile phone number in Mainland China or Hong Kong, you can use the 1-Card-Multi-Number (1CMN) service from CMLink.

The 1-Card-Multi-Number service allows you to link your Mainland China or Hong Kong phone number to a CMLink UK SIM card. Any phone calls or text messages received on your number in Mainland China or Hong Kong will be forwarded automatically to your CMLink UK SIM card. This makes it ideal for receiving notification texts messages (e.g. for online banking), as well as for incoming calls (e.g. if you do business or if you have family in China).

The 1-Card-Multi-Number service is available for an extra £3 per month. You can set it up by visiting the CMLink UK website.

No Contract & No Credit Check

On CMLink, there’s no need to sign a contract. This is because the service works on a one-month rolling basis. Because of this, you’ll also get a lot of flexibility (e.g. to change your plan as required).

There’s also no need to undergo a credit check as the CMLink UK SIM card works on a pre-paid basis. This makes it a good option if you aren’t able to undergo a UK credit check or if you don’t want the hassle of one (e.g. if you’ve recently moved to the UK or if you’re under 18).

Topping Up

You can pay for your CMLink UK plan by topping up your SIM card in a number of different ways.

Alongside the normal options to top-up from your UK bank card (using Visa or Mastercard), it’s also possible to top-up your CMLink SIM card using WeChat Pay, AliPay or UnionPay. This can be particularly convenient if you have a bank account in China.

Keeping Your Phone Number

If you’re joining CMLink from another UK network, it’s a straightforward process keeping your current phone number.

Start by ordering your new CMLink SIM card online. Once you’ve that, you can request a PAC Code from your old mobile network. You can get one through your mobile network’s website or app, or by texting PAC to 65075.

Once you’ve received your new CMLink SIM card, you’ll be able to submit your PAC Code online to complete the phone number transfer. This should normally take around one working day.

For more information, see our guide to transferring your mobile number.

More Information

For more information about CMLink and their new 5G plans, please see the official CMLink UK website.

Your Comments 27 so far

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  • If I’m reading correctly now, according to CMLink website even if you have a Super 5G plan, if you are in HK and will receive voice calls from the UK you pay 30p per minute, not free! Not very good.

    • Patrick replied:

      Yes I tried it in 2019, and you can freely access to all websites including YouTube, Facebook and etc without speed throttling.
      CMLink SIMs are issued and registered to the EE UK mobile network. All mobile data traffic (inc roaming) generated are routed back to the EE’s network in the UK and exit via EE’s internet gateway. This also means you are using EE’s IP address which you can access to contents with geo-location restriction, i.e. BBC iPlayer and Now TV.

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