Lycamobile offers Pay As You Go bundles from 99p/month with inclusive international calls and O2 coverage.

In the UK, Lycamobile offers low-cost SIM cards with one-month rolling Pay As You Go bundles. Their plans start from just 99p/month for three months, with an allowance of UK minutes, texts and mobile data included. You’ll also get international minutes included on most Lycamobile bundles.

As a special offer for June 2023, you’ll get even lower prices when you order a new Lycamobile SIM card. For instance, you can get 3GB data for 99p on Lycamobile’s cheapest SIM-only deal. There’s also 10GB data for £1.99, 15GB data for £2.99, and 100GB data for £10. You can benefit from this discounted price for between 3 months and 6 months when you order a new Lycamobile SIM.

In this article, we’ll review Lycamobile’s UK network 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 UK networks including Lebara Mobile, Smarty and giffgaff.

Prices From: 99p per month for three months, then £4.75 per month
June 2023 Offers
(with Lycamobile SIM):
Lycamobile Bundles:
Coverage:

Lycamobile Bundles

In the UK, Lycamobile is a low-cost mobile network that specialises in providing SIM-only plans with coverage from O2.

Monthly Bundles

Most Lycamobile customers now choose to buy a 30-day bundle. Here, you’ll get an inclusive allowance of UK minutes, texts and mobile data to use over a 30-day period. You’ll also get some international minutes included.

The cheapest Lycamobile bundles are available when you order a new Lycamobile SIM card. At present, the following Lycamobile bundles are available from just 99p per month:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
LycamobileUnlimitedUnlimited3GB£0.99
for 3 months, then £4.75/month
LycamobileUnlimitedUnlimited5GB£1.50
for 3 months, then £5.90/month
LycamobileUnlimitedUnlimited10GB£1.99
for 3 months, then £6.50/month
LycamobileUnlimitedUnlimited15GB£2.99
for 3 months, then £8.50/month
LycamobileUnlimitedUnlimited20GB£5.00
for 6 months, then £10/month
LycamobileUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£10.00
for 3 months, then £25/month
LycamobileUnlimitedUnlimited100GB£10.00
for 6 months, then £20/month

These deals are only available when you order online – it isn’t possible to get them in-store, by phone or by text message. You’ll also need a new Lycamobile SIM card to get them (you can always transfer your service over to it if you’re a current Lycamobile customer).

It’s important to note that these deals are only available online. It isn’t possible to buy them in-store, by phone call or by text message.

There’s no contract and no credit check when you join Lycamobile. This means you can easily change or cancel your plan at any time.

National Bundles

If you have an existing Lycamobile SIM card, there’ll be a different range of bundles available to you.

The most popular type of plan for existing Lycamobile customers is a national bundle. These 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.		1,0005GB
(2GB offline)		£5.00
Lycamobile
National Plus		Unlimited
+100 intl.		Unlimited20GB
(10GB offline)		£10.00
Lycamobile
National Plan Extra		Unlimited
+100 intl.		Unlimited26GB
(20GB offline)		£12.00
Lycamobile
UK Plan Super Extra		Unlimited
+100 intl.		Unlimited50GB
(30GB offline)		£15.00
Lycamobile
UK Plan Mega Plus		Unlimited
+100 intl.		Unlimited100GB£20.00
Lycamobile
UK Plan Unlimited		Unlimited
+100 intl.		UnlimitedUnlimited£25.00
Lycamobile
UK Plan Unlimited Plus		Unlimited
+unltd intl.		UnlimitedUnlimited£30.00

When you buy a Lycamobile bundle for use on your existing SIM card, it’s important to be aware that there are different allowances for bundles purchased online and offline. For the best value, it’s always best to buy your bundle online. If you purchase your Lycamobile bundle in a shop, by phone call or by text message, you’ll often get a smaller amount of data included with it.

International Bundles

If you’d like more international minutes, you can choose one of Lycamobile’s international bundles instead. These are available from £9.90 per month. The international bundles will give you a larger allowance of international minutes. However, you’ll get a smaller allowance of data in return.

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
Lycamobile
All In One 10		Unlimited
+500 intl.		Unlimited6GB
(3GB offline)		£9.90
Lycamobile
All In One Plus 20		Unlimited
+unltd intl.		Unlimited30GB
(15GB offline)		£20.00

In addition, Lycamobile offers specialist international bundles for calling certain countries like India and Turkey. 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 2GB data) Dial *139*5555# or text 5555 to 3535 Extra 1GB online (3GB in total)
£10 National Plus (with 7GB data) Dial *139*21544# or text 21544 to 3535 Extra 13GB online (20GB in total)
£12 National Plan Extra (with 20GB data) Dial *139*112# or text 112 to 3535 Extra 6GB online (26GB in total)
£15 UK Plan Super Extra (with 30GB data) Dial *139*115# or text 115 to 3535 Extra 20GB online (50GB in total)
£20 UK Plan Mega Plus (with 100GB data) Dial *139*2055# or text 2055 to 3535 –
£25 UK Plan Unlimited Dial *139*3055# or text 3055 to 3535 –
£30 UK Plan Unlimited Plus Dial *139*4055# or text 4055 to 3535 –
International Bundles
£9.90 All in One 10 (with 3GB data) Dial *139*2541# or text 2541 to 3535 Extra 3GB online (6GB in total)
£20 All In One Plus 20 (with 15GB data) Dial *139*545# or text 545 to 3535 Extra 15GB online (30GB in total)

Given the increased data allowances that are available when you buy your bundle online, we’d normally recommend this instead of buying your bundle via phone call or text message.

Voucher Code Offers

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

When you buy your SIM card online, you’ll get £5 of bonus credit when you top-up by £20. This increases to £10 of bonus credit when you top-up by £30. The bonus credit is valid for 30 days.

For more information, see the Lycamobile offers page.

Unlimited Data

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

Both plans have a fair use limit of 650GB per month. If you use more than 650GB of data in one month, your download speeds might be reduced or your use of the Lycamobile service might be suspended.

On other mobile networks, it’s currently possible to get unlimited data from £16/month. In addition, this might not be subject to the same speed restrictions as on Lycamobile:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
SmartyUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£16.00
1 month
ThreeUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£18.00
24 months
Lebara MobileUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£22.50
12 months
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
2Mbps max		£26.00
24 months
EEUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£27.00
24 months
Virgin MobileUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£30.00
1 month
O2UnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£30.00
24 months
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited
10Mbps max		£30.00
24 months
VodafoneUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£33.00
24 months
VOXIUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£35.00
1 month
giffgaffUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited£35.00
1 month

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 23p/minute for calling UK mobiles and 15p/minute for calling UK landlines. You’ll also pay 23p for every text message you send, and 15p for every megabyte of data you use.

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

Calling Rates:
Voice Calls 23p/minute to other UK mobile phones
15p/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) 23p
Picture Message (MMS) Not available.
Internet Rates:
Mobile Data 15p/MB

Each time you top-up your Lycamobile SIM card, you’ll get unlimited calls and 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 calling, we’d currently recommend getting a SIM card from Lebara Mobile instead.

On Lebara Mobile, you can get a SIM-only bundle with inclusive international calls to 42 destinations. Lebara offers 4G & 5G coverage from Vodafone.

As a special offer for June 2023, you can use the KEN3 voucher code at checkout to get yourself 3 months half price on all of Lebara’s Pay As You Go bundles. This allows you to get the following plans from just £2.50 per month:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
Lebara Mobile1,000
+100 intl.		1,0003GB£2.50
for 3 months, then £5/month
Lebara MobileUnlimited
+100 intl.		Unlimited4GB£3.00
for 3 months, then £6/month
Lebara MobileUnlimited
+100 intl.		Unlimited8GB£3.50
for 3 months, then £7/month
Lebara MobileUnlimited
+100 intl.		Unlimited15GB£4.50
for 3 months, then £9/month
Lebara MobileUnlimited
+500 intl.		Unlimited6GB£5.00
for 3 months, then £10/month
Lebara MobileUnlimited
+unltd intl.		Unlimited30GB£7.50
for 3 months, then £15/month
Lebara MobileUnlimited
+100 intl.		UnlimitedUnlimited£12.50
for 3 months, then £25/month

Order Lebara Mobile SIM Card →

Meanwhile, if you’re not concerned about having international minutes on your plan, you can also consider SMARTY’s SIM-only deals. SMARTY offers 4G & 5G coverage from Three, with competitive allowances of data from £5 per month:

NetworkMinutesTextsDataMonthly
Cost
SmartyUnlimitedUnlimited2GB£5.00
1 month
SmartyUnlimitedUnlimited12GB£7.00
1 month
SmartyUnlimitedUnlimited30GB£10.00
1 month
SmartyUnlimitedUnlimited100GB£12.00
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 offers coverage from the O2 network. You’ll get access to O2’s 2G, 3G and 4G networks, with around 99% population coverage. This is the same coverage that’s available to customers on O2.

Before you order 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, 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

If you’re using selected 5G-ready Android smartphones, you’ll get access to O2’s 5G network on your Lycamobile SIM card. This is available in more than 500 UK towns and cities. It can give you download speeds around five times faster than 4G.

Unfortunately, 5G coverage isn’t currently available if you’re using an iPhone on Lycamobile. However, this is something that Lycamobile says they’re currently working to offer.

For more information, see our guide to 5G SIM-only deals and 5G Pay As You Go deals.

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 use your Lycamobile UK SIM card when you travel abroad to other countries. This is possible through Lycamobile’s international roaming service.

Some Lycamobile plans come with an inclusive allowance for EU roaming. This varies, depending on the plan you choose. For instance, the £5 UK Plan Smart gives you 1GB of data to use in the EU. This increases to 5GB on the £10 National Plus plan and 9.5GB on the £20 UK Plan Mega Plus.

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.

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:

If you purchase your bundle offline (e.g. by phone, by text message or in store), you may get a smaller data allowance and 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 texting a relevant bundle code 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 UK Plan Unlimited gives you unlimited UK minutes, 100 international minutes, unlimited UK texts and unlimited UK data.
  • The £30 UK Plan Unlimited Plus Plan gives you unlimited UK minutes, unlimited international minutes, unlimited UK texts and unlimited UK data.

Both plans are subject to a fair use limit of 650GB per month.

On other mobile networks, it’s possible to get unlimited data from £16/month with no speed restrictions.
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’ll also get 5G coverage on selected 5G-ready Android devices. To check the availability of coverage where you live, use Lycamobile’s online coverage map.
Can I keep my current phone number?
Yes. It’s easy keeping your current phone number when you join 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 you’ve ordered your SIM card.

More Information

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

Your Comments 33 so far

We'd love to hear your thoughts and any questions you may have. So far, we've received 33 comments from readers. You can add your own comment here.

  • Simon Cockburn said:

    Hi Ken, I’ve discovered that Lycamobe now permit hot spot and tethering.see this FAQ section.

    Can I share my device’s data connection through a personal hotspot or tethering?
    Yes, Personal hotspots and tethering are methods of sharing your mobile device’s data connection with another device, like a laptop or games console. So, if you’re in an area with no Wi-Fi, but you have a 4G or 3G signal, you can use that signal to go online. If you do this frequently, we recommend you monitor your data usage by dialling *137# and follow the instruction.

    A personal hotspot lets you share your device’s data wirelessly, so it’s also called ‘wireless tethering’ or a ‘Wi-Fi hotspot. Tethering lets you do the same thing, using a USB cable instead of a wireless connection. Iphone users may need to enter personal hotspot’s APN: data.lycamobile.co.uk under the setting.

  • Peter said:

    Am UK based and was looking forward to using my Lycamobile SIM during multi country holiday (EU). Is true that you can use your data in EU countries but you seem to only be able to get an E speed connection (between 2g and 3g) so actually unusable for apps / web browsing / any normal type of phone usage. Spent nearly 4 weeks trying to get support for the ‘issue’ but concluded it’s actually by design rather than something that can be resolved. Back in UK immediately have 4g access again. Is cheap so fair enough but won’t expect to use next time I travel. Ended up buying local SIM which worked well (dual SIM phone). SMS and calls worked as expected.

  • 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.

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