Lycamobile offers Pay As You Go bundles from £5/month with low-cost international calling and coverage from O2.

In the UK, Lycamobile is a specialist provider of international phone calls. They offer Pay As You Go bundles from £5/month with 4G coverage from O2. Customers can buy a 30-day bundle with inclusive UK minutes, texts and data. You’ll also get 100 international minutes included on most Lycamobile bundles.

In this article, we’ll review Lycamobile’s UK service including the 30-day bundles and the bundle codes that can be used to buy them. We’ll also look at how Lycamobile compares to other networks including Lebara Mobile, Smarty and giffgaff.

Prices From: £5 per month
Lycamobile Bundles:

The £5 bundle includes 1000 UK minutes, 1000 UK texts & 100 international minutes.
Other bundles include unlimited UK minutes, unlimited UK texts & 100 international minutes.
Special Offers:
Coverage: 99% population coverage on 2G, 3G & 4G (powered by O2)

Lycamobile Bundles

In the UK, Lycamobile is a specialist provider of international phone calls. You can either buy a 30-day bundle with inclusive international phone calls to 41 destinations, or you can call abroad at Lycamobile’s standard Pay As You Go rates.

Monthly Bundles

Most Lycamobile customers now choose to buy a 30-day bundle. Here, you’ll convert your Pay As You Go credit into a 30-day allowance of UK minutes, texts and mobile data. You’ll also get some international minutes included for calling phone numbers in 41 international destinations.

When buying a Lycamobile bundle, it’s important to be aware that they offer different allowances for bundles purchased online and offline. For the best value usage, it’s always best to buy your bundle online. This will give you the largest amount of data and access to any discounts available on the plan.

If you buy your Lycamobile bundle in a shop, by phone call or by text message, you’ll often get a smaller data allowance included. In the table below, we’ve listed the online data allowances. Where different, the offline data allowance is shown below in brackets. You can read on for the relevant SMS bundle code to buy your bundle offline.

National Bundles

Most Lycamobile customers will now choose to buy one of their national bundles. This will give you the largest UK data allowance, along with 100 international minutes for calling 41 destinations (or unlimited international minutes on the £30 plan):

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
Lycamobile
UK Plan Smart		1,000
+100 intl.		1,0002GB
(1GB offline)		£5.00
Lycamobile
National Plus		Unlimited
+100 intl.		Unlimited10GB
(6GB offline)		£10.00
Lycamobile
UK Plan Super Plus		Unlimited
+100 intl.		Unlimited25GB£15.00
Lycamobile
UK Plan Mega Plus		Unlimited
+100 intl.		Unlimited100GB£20.00
Lycamobile
Go Unlimited		Unlimited
+100 intl.		UnlimitedUnlimited£25.00
Lycamobile
Go Unlimited Plus		Unlimited
+unltd intl.		UnlimitedUnlimited£30.00

International Bundles

As an alternative, you can choose one of Lycamobile’s international bundles from £10 per month. The international bundles will give you a larger allowance of international minutes but you’ll get a smaller UK data allowance included.

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
Lycamobile
All In One 10		Unlimited
+500 intl.		Unlimited6GB
(3GB offline)		£10.00
Lycamobile
All In One Plus 15		Unlimited
+unltd intl.		Unlimited15GB
(7GB offline)		£15.00
Lycamobile
All In One Plus 20		Unlimited
+unltd intl.		Unlimited20GB
(10GB offline)		£20.00

In addition, Lycamobile also offers specialist international bundles for calling certain countries like India. You can find them listed on their website.

Inclusive International Minutes

If your bundle comes with an inclusive allowance of international minutes, you can use it for calling phone numbers in the following 41 destinations:

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Canada
  • China
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus Greek
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hong Kong
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • India
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malaysia
  • Malta
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Singapore
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • South Korea
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Thailand
  • United States

Bundle Codes

You can buy a 30-day bundle from Lycamobile by dialling or texting the relevant shortcode listed below. One thing that’s worth noting, however, is that Lycamobile has special online-only promotions. These will give you more data for the same price. The promotions are only available when you buy the bundles through the Lycamobile website.

Bundle Name Bundle Code Online Offer
£5 UK Plan Smart (with 1GB data) Dial *139*5555# or text 5555 to 3535 Extra 1GB online (2GB in total)
£10 National Plus (with 6GB data) Dial *139*21544# or text 21544 to 3535 Extra 4GB online (10GB in total)
£15 UK Plan Super (with 25GB data) Dial *139*1533# or text 1533 to 3535 –
£20 UK Plan Mega (with 100GB data) Dial *139*2055# or text 2055 to 3535 –
£25 Go Unlimited Dial *139*3055# or text 3055 to 3535 Save £10 online for 3 months
£30 Go Unlimited Plus Dial *139*4055# or text 4055 to 3535 Save £10 online for 3 months
International Bundles
£10 All in One 10 (with 3GB data) Dial *139*2541# or text 2541 to 3535 Extra 3GB online (6GB in total)
£15 All In One 15 (with 7GB data) Dial *139*544# or text 544 to 3535 Extra 8GB online (15GB in total)
£20 All In One 15 (with 10GB data) Dial *139*545# or text 545 to 3535 Extra 10GB online (20GB in total)

Given the increased data allowance and the money off available online, we’d normally recommend buying your bundle online.

Voucher Code Offers

On Lycamobile, a number of voucher codes and special offers are currently available.

When you purchase your SIM card online, you’ll get £5 of bonus free credit when you top-up by £20 and £10 of bonus free credit when you top-up by £30. You can also get £3 of bonus credit each month for the first 5 months when you buy a bundle costing £10 or more. The bonus credit will last for 30 days.

If you transfer an existing phone number from another network to Lycamobile, you can get up to £15 of free credit for it.

Unlimited Data

At present, Lycamobile offers a choice of two unlimited data plans:

  • The £25 Go Unlimited bundle gives you unlimited UK minutes, 100 international minutes, unlimited UK texts and unlimited UK data.
  • The £30 Go Unlimited Plus bundle gives you unlimited UK minutes, unlimited international minutes, unlimited UK texts and unlimited UK data.

There are no speed restrictions on the Go Unlimited and Go Unlimited Plus bundles from Lycamobile. However, the use of tethering and personal hotspot is not permitted on the plan. In addition, you can only use the Lycamobile SIM card for personal usage inside a mobile device.

In the past, Lycamobile offered a £20 Forever Data plan. This gave you unlimited data with 4G speeds on the first 9GB per month. Your download speeds would then be reduced to 128kbps for the remainder of the month (around 0.1Mbps, which is the approximate speed of a basic 2G connection). Lycamobile’s Forever Data plan is no longer available to new customers.

On other mobile networks, it’s currently possible to get unlimited data from £16/month:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
SmartyUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£16.00
1 month
ThreeUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£16.00
12 months
iD MobileUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£16.00
12 months
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
2Mbps max		£22.00
24 months
giffgaffUnlimitedUnlimitedAlways-On£25.00
1 month
Lebara MobileUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£25.00
1 month
Virgin MobileUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£25.00
24 months
O2UnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£26.00
24 months
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
10Mbps max		£26.00
24 months
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£30.00
24 months
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£35.00
1 month
EEUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£40.00
24 months

For more information, see our full guide to unlimited data plans in the UK.

Pay As You Go Pricing

If you don’t have an active 30-day bundle, Lycamobile will charge you their standard Pay As You Go rates. This is 19p/minute for calling UK mobiles and 12p/minute for calling UK landlines. You’ll also pay 19p for every text message you send, and 12p for every megabyte of data you use.

The following table shows Lycamobile’s standard Pay As You Go rates:

Calling Rates:
Voice Calls 19p/minute to other UK mobile phones
12p/minute to UK landlines
Calls to Voicemail Free
Calls to Special Rate Numbers 23p/minute access charge
+ service charge from the company you’re calling
Messaging Rates:
Text Message (SMS) 19p
Picture Message (MMS) Not available.
Internet Rates:
Mobile Data 12p/MB

Each time you top-up your Lycamobile SIM card, you’ll get unlimited calls and unlimited texts to other Lycamobile UK customers. This is available for the next 30 days.

Alternatives to Lycamobile

If you’re looking for an alternative mobile network that also gives you inclusive international calls, we’d currently recommend getting a SIM card from Lebara Mobile instead.

On Lebara Mobile, you’ll get a SIM-only bundle with inclusive international calls to 41 destinations. Lebara offers 4G coverage from Vodafone instead of O2.

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
Lebara Mobile1,000
+100 intl.		1,0002GB£5.00
Lebara MobileUnlimited
+100 intl.		Unlimited10GB£10.00
Lebara MobileUnlimited
+500 intl.		Unlimited6GB£10.00
Lebara MobileUnlimited
+unltd intl.		Unlimited15GB£15.00
Lebara MobileUnlimited
+unltd intl.		Unlimited20GB£20.00
Lebara MobileUnlimited
+100 intl.		UnlimitedUnlimited£25.00
Lebara MobileUnlimited
+unltd intl.		UnlimitedUnlimited£30.00

Order Lebara Mobile SIM Card →

If you’re not concerned about having international minutes included on your plan, you should also consider SMARTY’s SIM-only plans. SMARTY offers 4G coverage from Three with very competitive allowances of data from £5 per month:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
SmartyUnlimitedUnlimited2GB£5.00
1 month
SmartyUnlimitedUnlimited4GB£6.00
1 month
SmartyUnlimitedUnlimited8GB£7.00
1 month
SmartyUnlimitedUnlimited30GB£10.00
1 month
SmartyUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£16.00
1 month

For more information, see our guide to the best SIM-only deals in the UK.

Network & Coverage

2G, 3G & 4G Coverage From O2

In the UK, Lycamobile uses coverage from the O2 network. You’ll get access to O2’s 2G, 3G and 4G networks, with around 99% population coverage. This should be the same coverage available to O2 customers (with the exception of 5G as this isn’t available to Lycamobile customers).

Before ordering a SIM card from Lycamobile, it’s important to double-check the coverage in your area. You can do this by entering your postcode on Lycamobile’s online coverage map:

Check Lycamobile Coverage (lycamobile.co.uk) →

Unfortunately, features like Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling are not currently available to Lycamobile customers.

For more information, see our in-depth guide to O2’s network and coverage. You can also see our list of mobile networks using O2 coverage.

5G Coverage

Unfortunately, 5G coverage isn’t currently available to Lycamobile customers. If you want access to O2’s 5G network in 193 UK towns and cities, you’ll need to join O2 as a direct customer on their network. Alternatively, you can get access to O2’s 5G network on plans from giffgaff, Sky Mobile and Tesco Mobile.

O2 currently offers 5G coverage in the following UK towns and cities:

Now Live193 towns and cities are live on O2 5G (October 2021)
Aberdeen, Allesley, Altrincham, Ambleside, Ashford, Aughton, Aylesbury, Banbury, Banstead, Basildon, Basingstoke, Beaconsfield, Bedford, Belfast, Bilston, Birkenhead, Birmingham, Birstall, Blackburn, Blackpool, Blaydon, Bolton, Bournemouth, Bradford, Bradley Stoke, Bridge of Don, Brighton, Bristol, Brombourgh, Burton upon Trent, Bury St Edmunds, Byfleet, Calverley, Cambridge, Cardiff, Chadwell St Mary, Chatham, Cheadle, Chelmsford, Cheltenham, Chertsey, Chesterfield, Chilworth, Chipstead, Clacton-on-Sea, Colchester, Coventry, Danderhall, Darlington, Dartford, Derby, Dewsbury, Dinas Powys, Doncaster, Dudley, Dundee, Dunstable, Durham, Dyce, Eastbourne, Edinburgh, Egham, Epsom, Esher, Eton, Falmer, Gateshead, Gatton Bottom, Gillingham, Glasgow, Gloucester, Gravesend, Grays, Great Yarmouth, Grimsby, Guildford, Halifax, Harlington London, Harlow, Hastings, Hebburn, Hemel Hempstead, Hextable, High Wycombe, Horwich, Hove, How Wood, Huddersfield, Hull, Inverness, Ipswich, Iver, Jarrow, Joyden’s Wood, Kemprow, Kettering, Lancaster, Leeds, Leicester, Lincoln, Lisburn, Liverpool, Llandudno, London, Longford, Loughborough, Lowestoft, Luton, Maidenhead, Maidstone, Manchester, Mansfield, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Molesey, Monifieth, Morley, Musselburgh, New Denham, Newbury, Newcastle, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Newtownabbey, North Shields, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Nuneaton, Oldham, Orpington, Oxford, Penarth, Peterborough, Plymouth, Plympton, Portsmouth, Potters Bar, Rainham, Reading, Redhill, Richings Park, Rochdale, Rotherham, Royal Leamington Spa, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Rugby, Salford, Sheffield, Shelf, Shepperton Green, Shinfield, Shirehampton, Slough, Solihull, South Shields, Southampton, Southend-On-Sea, St Albans, Staines-upon-Thames, Stapleford, Stevenage, Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Stranraer, Sunbury, Sunderland, Swansea, Swindon, Tatling End, Thornaby-on-Tees, Thorpe, Thundersley, Trumps Green, Tynemouth, Virginia Water, Wakefield, Wallasey, Waltham Abbey, Warrington, Washington, Watford, Wavertree, West Bromwich, Weybridge, Whickham, Whitley Bay, Wickersley, Windsor, Wolverhampton, Worthing, Wythenshawe, York

For more information, see our guide to 5G SIM-only deals. There’s also more information within our guide to 5G coverage in the UK.

Tethering & Personal Hotspot

Tethering or personal hotspot refers to the process of sharing your smartphone’s internet connection with another device (e.g. with your laptop or tablet). It’s often used as a convenient way to get your other devices connected to the internet.

Unfortunately, Lycamobile’s UK plan terms and conditions prohibit the use of tethering or personal hotspot on their network. This restriction can be found in the terms and conditions of their UK plans:

The offer is for non-commercial, private, personal use only – Lycamobile reserves the right to withdraw or suspend the offer or to disconnect you if we suspect that offer is being used for commercial purposes, for conferencing, or if it is not being used in a handset (in a SIM box for example), if it is being used for tethering or if any reason Lycamobile reasonably suspects that you are not acting in accordance with this policy where we consider that the usage was illegitimate.

For more information, see our guide to tethering on UK mobile networks.

International Roaming

You can continue using your Lycamobile SIM card when you travel abroad to another country. This is possible through Lycamobile’s international roaming service.

If you’re travelling to an EU or EEA country, you can use your UK plan allowances at no extra cost (up to a maximum of 20GB data per month if your plan includes more than 20GB of data).

If you’re travelling to any other country outside Europe, Lycamobile’s international roaming rates will apply.

Keeping Your Phone Number

If you’re switching from another network to Lycamobile, it’s a straightforward process to keep your current phone number.

You can start by requesting a PAC Code from your old network. This is available free of charge through your mobile network’s website or app, or by texting PAC to 65075. Your old mobile network is legally obliged to provide you with a PAC Code free of charge within 60 seconds of your request.

Once you have the PAC Code from your old network, order your new SIM card from the Lycamobile website. When your Lycamobile SIM card arrives in the post, fill out this online form to get your phone number moved over.

For step-by-step instructions on how to move your phone number to Lycamobile, please select your current mobile network from the dropdown menu below:

PAC Code Finder: Transfer Your Phone Number to Lycamobile

Select your current mobile network:

  More Options

It isn’t possible to transfer Pay As You Go credit from another network to Lycamobile. For this reason, you should try to use up any remaining Pay As You Go credit before moving your phone number to Lycamobile.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Pay As You Go bundles are available on Lycamobile?
Lycamobile offers a range of Pay As You Go bundles from £5/month. For instance, you can get the following allowances if you purchase your bundle online:
  • £5 UK Plan Smart: 2GB data, 1000 UK minutes, 100 international minutes & 1000 UK texts.
  • £10 National Plus: 10GB data, unlimited UK minutes, 100 international minutes & unlimited UK texts.
  • £15 UK Plan Super Plus: 25GB data, unlimited UK minutes, 100 international minutes & unlimited UK texts.
  • £20 UK Plan Mega Plus: 100GB data, unlimited UK minutes, 100 international minutes & unlimited UK texts.
  • £25 Go Unlimited: Unlimited data, unlimited UK minutes, 100 international minutes & unlimited UK texts.
  • £30 Go Unlimited Plus: Unlimited data, unlimited UK minutes, unlimited international minutes & unlimited UK texts.

If you purchase your bundle offline (e.g. by phone, by text message or in store), you may get a smaller data allowance or you may need to pay more for your bundle.
What is a Lycamobile bundle code?
You can buy a bundle from your Lycamobile Pay As You Go credit by dialling the relevant shortcode on your phone or by texting a relevant shortcode to 3535. You can find the latest Lycamobile bundle codes here.
Which countries can I call using the international minutes?
If your Lycamobile bundle has an allowance of inclusive international minutes, you’ll be able to use them to call phone numbers in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus Greek, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and the United States.
Does Lycamobile offer any unlimited data plans?
Yes. Lycamobile currently offers a choice of two unlimited data plans:
  • The £25 Go Unlimited Plan gives you unlimited UK minutes, 100 international minutes, unlimited UK texts and unlimited UK data.
  • The £30 Go Unlimited Plus Plan gives you unlimited UK minutes, unlimited international minutes, unlimited UK texts and unlimited UK data.

On other mobile networks, it’s currently possible to get unlimited data from £16/month.
What’s the coverage like on Lycamobile?
You’ll get 99% population coverage from O2’s 2G, 3G and 4G mobile networks in the UK. You can check the availability of coverage where you live using Lycamobile’s online coverage map.
Does Lycamobile offer any 5G coverage?
No. Unfortunately, Lycamobile doesn’t offer any 5G coverage at the moment. Instead, you’ll need to join O2 as a Pay Monthly customer. Alternatively, 5G is also available on price plans from giffgaff, Sky Mobile and Tesco Mobile.
Can I keep my current phone number?
Yes. It’s easy keeping your current phone number when joining Lycamobile. Ask your current mobile network to give you a PAC Code. This can be obtained through your mobile network’s website or app, or by texting PAC to 65075. You can then submit this PAC Code on the Lycamobile website after ordering your SIM card.

More Information

For more information, please see Lycamobile’s official UK website.

Your Comments 31 so far

We'd love to hear your thoughts and any questions you may have. So far, we've received 31 comments from readers. You can add your own comment here.

  • John said:

    This is a bit out of date. Lycamobile now has a PAYG plan for £5.00 a month with 2GB data, 1000 minutes, 1000 texts and 100 international minutes. This is on their website.

  • Luis said:

    Customer service and their website is really bad. I am happy with their bundles but I seriously considering to change to another provider. On internet, many times fails to make payments and customer services are quite poor.

    When you explain them the facts, they just tell you it is a problem of your card and bank account. I paid to several sites with my card and in all of them is good. Just in Lycamobile, and in three months in a row, give me problems issues.

    I spent £3 credit from my phone trying to make the payment of the bundle but as said, their website is not good.

  • sonja patel said:

    HI, can i just upgrade my bundle online if I have an existing Lycamobile sim?
    Want to get a bundle with data and unlimited texts and minutes

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