Lycamobile offers low-cost international calls from 1p/minute and coverage from the O2 network.
In the UK, Lycamobile is a specialist mobile network offering SIM cards designed for low-cost international calling. Using coverage from O2 as their network coverage provider, customers on Lycamobile can call other countries from 1p/minute.
In this article, we’ll review the Lycamobile service and compare it to the cost of international calling on other UK mobile networks. We’ll also look at bundle availability and how long your can expect your credit to last for. Finally, we’ll also look at coverage on Lycamobile and how you can move your phone number to the network.
Stop Press: For £15/month, Lebara Mobile is offering unlimited international minutes to 41 countries, unlimited UK minutes and 6GB of data. There’s also £10 free credit when you transfer your phone number. Order a free SIM card to try it out and get started.
Contents
Pricing & Bundles
There are two ways of using Lycamobile: either on a traditional Pay As You Go basis or buy buying a 30-day bundle.
UK Rates
If you’re inside the UK and haven’t subscribed to a 30-day bundle, Lycamobile will charge you its standard Pay As You Go rates. These are currently 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 Internet | 12p/MB |
Lycamobile is actually relatively expensive for usage inside the UK, compared to other Pay As You Go networks like O2 and Three which charge as little as 3p/minute, 2p/text and 1p/MB. For this reason, you’ll need to weigh up any potential savings on international calling versus the additional amount you might need to pay for usage in the UK.
One advantage of Lycamobile that’s worth briefly mentioning is you can make free calls and texts to other Lycamobile customers. You’ll get this whenever you top-up as part of their offer with your free calls and texts being valid for the rest of the calendar month. For this reason, you should top-up at the start of each calendar month if you want to maximise the benefit you can receive from the offer.
International Rates
The main selling point of Lycamobile’s service in the UK is they’ll allow you to call abroad from 1p/minute. This is in contrast to the major mobile networks which can sometimes charge you up to £1.50/minute.
The following table shows the per-minute cost of calling abroad to selected countries when using a Lycamobile SIM card:
| Country | Calls to Mobile | Calls to Landline | Text Message |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3p/minute | 1p/minute | 19p/message | |
| 2p/minute | 2p/minute | 19p/message | |
| 19p/minute | 7p/minute | 19p/message | |
| 19p/minute | 7p/minute | 19p/message | |
| 8p/minute | 8p/minute | 19p/message | |
| 5p/minute | 1p/minute | 19p/message | |
| 5p/minute | 1p/minute | 19p/message | |
| 15p/minute | 12p/minute | 19p/message | |
| 12p/minute | 3p/minute | 19p/message | |
| 6p/minute | 6p/minute | 19p/message |
Cost of international calls & international text messages on the Lycamobile network (calls & texts made to a phone number in another country whilst you're in the UK). Last updated on 8th January 2018. Source: lycamobile.co.uk.
You can see a list of international calling rates for each country in our full guide and comparison of international rates.
Lebara Mobile VS Lycamobile
In general, Lebara Mobile, the main competitor of Lycamobile in the UK, tends to have slightly cheaper rates overall.
Based on an analysis of the cost of calling 210 countries, Lebara Mobile was cheaper than Lycamobile 45% of the time. In 5% of cases, Lycamobile was cheaper and in the other 50%, the two networks were tied.
| Lebara Mobile was cheaper | Tied | Lycamobile was cheaper |
|---|---|---|
| 94 countries (45%) | 105 countries (50%) | 11 countries (5%) |
Lycamobile VS Lebara Mobile rate comparison for 210 countries. Calculated from the per-minute rates for international calling to a mobile phone. Comparison was carried out on the 8th January 2018.
Order Lebara Mobile SIM Card (Free) →
Amongst the 94 destinations where Lebara Mobile was cheaper (e.g. including China, Italy, Turkey and the USA), the per-minute rates were on average one-third lower compared to Lycamobile.
Occasionally, special opt-in offers are available on both Lebara Mobile and Lycamobile for even cheaper rates compared to what is listed in the table above. You’ll normally need to opt-in to these offers (e.g. once per month) and additional requirements may also apply (e.g. you may be required to top-up a certain amount on a regular basis).
30-Day Bundles
If you’re a regular mobile user, it might be better value to convert your Pay As You Go credit into a 30-day bundle. With a bundle, you’ll be buying your airtime in bulk. You’ll receive a certain allowance of minutes, texts and mobile internet to use at any time over the next 30 days.
At present, you can buy the following UK Plan bundles on Lycamobile:
| Network | Minutes | Texts | Data | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 150 | 150 | 500MB | £7.50 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 4GB | £10.00 |
| Unlimited +100 intl. | Unlimited | 8GB | £15.00 |
| Unlimited +100 intl. | Unlimited | 20GB | £20.00 |
| Unlimited +100 intl. | Unlimited | 25GB | £25.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 30GB | £35.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 50GB | £50.00 |
On certain bundles, you’ll receive an inclusive allowance of 100 international minutes which can be used for calling selected countries that are listed on the Lycamobile website.
For customers who mainly call abroad and who are not concerned by UK allowances, Lycamobile also offers a number of international bundles and single county plans (e.g. for calling Jamaica, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda, Ghana or China).
Bundle Codes
You can buy a 30-day bundle from your Lycamobile credit by texting the relevant shortcode as follows:
| Bundle Name | Bundle Code |
|---|---|
| Talk & Text £5 | Text 82551 to 3535 or dial *139*82551# |
| UK Plan S £7.50 | Text 10744 to 3535 or dial *139*10744# |
| UK Plan M £10 | Text 11044 to 3535 or dial *139*11044# |
| UK Plan L £12 | Text 12044 to 3535 or dial *139*12044# |
| UK Plan Super £15 | Text 1544 to 3535 or dial *139*1544# |
| UK Plan Mega £20 | Text 2044 to 3535 or dial *139*2044# |
| UK Plan Ultra £25 | Text 12644 to 3535 or dial *139*12644# |
| Lyca Globe £10 | Text 1011 to 3535 or dial *139*1011# |
| Great Eastern £10 | Text 1010 to 3535 or dial *139*1010# |
| Unlimited £9.90 | Text 103000 to 3535 or dial *139*103000# |
| All in One £15 | Text 542 to 3535 or dial *139*542# |
You can also buy a bundle online through the Lycamobile website.
Voucher Code Offers
At the time of writing, Lycamobile is offering 50% off the first purchase of selected bundles for new customers joining their network. The discount is not available to existing Lycamobile customers.
As an ongoing offer, students with a NUS Extra card can get 10% off all of their Lycamobile top-ups. To get the discount, you’ll need to register your NUS Extra card number to your Lycamobile account. More information about how to do this can be found on the Lycamobile website.
Comparison to Alternatives
In the following section, we’ll compare the Lycamobile offering against what is available on rival mobile networks:
International Calling
The following table shows a side-by-side comparison of per-minute rates for international calling on a number of Pay As You Go networks. Some of the rates will require you to opt-in for international calling offers (e.g. on EE, O2 and Vodafone).
| Country | Cost of calling abroad from the UK (per minute) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  | |  |  | |
| 3p (3p to landline) | 2p (2p to landline) | 2p (1p to landline) | 3p (1p to landline) | 2p (1.5p to landline) | 1.5p (1.5p to landline) | |
| 5p | 2p | 2p | 2p | 2p | 1.5p | |
| 8p (1p to landline) | 5p (2p to landline) | 9p (5p to landline) | 19p (7p to landline) | 5p (1p to landline) | 25p (5p to landline) | |
| 7p (3p to landline) | 3p (3p to landline) | 9p (5p to landline) | 19p (7p to landline) | 10p (2p to landline) | 25p (5p to landline) | |
| 10p (10p to landline) | 8p (8p to landline) | 8p (4p to landline) | 8p (8p to landline) | 6p (6p to landline) | 30p (12p to landline) | |
| 5p (1p to landline) | 5p (1p to landline) | 5p (2p to landline) | 5p (1p to landline) | 5p (1p to landline) | 25p (5p to landline) | |
| 5p (1p to landline) | 2p (2p to landline) | 5p (2p to landline) | 5p (1p to landline) | 4p (1p to landline) | 25p (5p to landline) | |
| 20p (15p to landline) | 22p (14p to landline) | 15p (12p to landline) | 15p (12p to landline) | 18p (15p to landline) | 30p (12p to landline) | |
| 12p (5p to landline) | 11p (3p to landline) | 9p (3p to landline) | 12p (3p to landline) | 12p (3p to landline) | 25p (5p to landline) | |
| 3p | 2p | 5p | 6p | 2p | 1.5p | |
Cost of calling abroad from a UK mobile network (per minute). As the headline figure, we've shown the per-minute cost of calling a mobile phone number. Where a lower price applies for calling landline numbers, this is shown separately in brackets. Last updated on 8th January 2018. Source: ee.co.uk, giffgaff.com, mobile.lebara.com, lycamobile.co.uk, o2.co.uk, vodafone.co.uk.
The lowest per-minute rates vary substantially depending on which country you’re calling. For more information and for a full comparison that includes many other countries, please see our in-depth guide to international calling rates.
If you’re making a large number of international phone calls, it may be worth choosing to buy an international calling bundle. Lebara Mobile has a number of All In One bundles offering 500 international minutes from £10/month and 1000 international minutes from £15/month. You’ll also receive an inclusive allowance of UK minutes, texts and internet.
| Network | Minutes | Texts | Data | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 4GB | £10.00 |
| Unlimited | 1,000 | 3GB | £10.00 |
| 500 | 1,000 | 1GB | £10.00 |
| Unlimited | 1,000 | 5GB | £15.00 |
| Unlimited | 1,000 | 10GB | £20.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 25GB | £25.00 |
£10 per month bundles
At the £10/month price point, Lycamobile offers the UK Plan M bundle with 100 international minutes to selected countries plus 1000 UK minutes, unlimited UK texts and 2GB of mobile internet.
For the same monthly price, it’s possible to get 3GB of data per month on giffgaff but without the inclusive allowance of international minutes.
Alternatively, Lebara Mobile offers a choice of two £10 per month bundles. Lebara’s £10 UK Plan bundle matches the deal from Lycamobile fairly closely (you’ll get 100 international minutes, 1000 UK minutes and 2GB of data). Meanwhile, Lebara’s £10 All In One bundle comes with 500 international minutes plus 500 UK minutes and 1GB of data.
The following table shows rival Pay As You Go bundles available for £10/month:
| Network | Minutes | Texts | Data | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Unlimited | Unlimited | 10GB | £10.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 6GB | £10.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 4GB | £10.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 4GB | £10.00 |
| Unlimited +100 intl. | Unlimited | 4GB | £10.00 |
 | 600 | Unlimited | 4GB | £10.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 3GB | £10.00 |
| Unlimited +100 intl. | 1,000 | 3GB | £10.00 |
| 250 | Unlimited | 3GB | £10.00 |
| 1,000 | Unlimited | 2GB | £10.00 |
| 100 | Unlimited | 2GB | £10.00 |
| 500 +500 intl. | 1,000 | 1GB | £10.00 |
| 250 | Unlimited | 1GB | £10.00 |
£15 per month bundles
For £15/month, Lycamobile offers UK Plan Super. The bundle comes with 100 international minutes, unlimited UK minutes, unlimited UK texts and 6GB of internet.
This compares fairly favourable to what is available on other mobile networks, but a larger allowance of international minutes can be found on other networks. For instance, Lebara Mobile offers 500 international minutes and 3GB of mobile data or 1,000 international minutes and 1GB of mobile data for £15/month.
| Network | Minutes | Texts | Data | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 20GB | £15.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 15GB | £15.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 10GB | £15.00 |
| Unlimited +100 intl. | Unlimited | 8GB | £15.00 |
| 1,000 | Unlimited | 8GB | £15.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 6GB | £15.00 |
| Unlimited +1000 intl. | 1,000 | 5GB | £15.00 |
| 2,000 | Unlimited | 5GB | £15.00 |
| 500 | Unlimited | 5GB | £15.00 |
| 250 | Unlimited | 5GB | £15.00 |
| 1,000 | Unlimited | 2GB | £15.00 |
£20 per month bundles
Lycamobile offers a £20 bundle called UK Plan Mega with 100 international minutes to selected countries, unlimited UK minutes, unlimited UK texts and 11GB of UK internet.
Once again, this compares fairly favourably to other networks. However, larger data allowances are available for the same monthly price if you’re not concerned about the inclusive international minutes (e.g. you can get Always-On data from giffgaff or 12GB of data from Three).
For a larger allowance of international minutes, Lebara Mobile offers up to 1000 international minutes with their All In One bundles.
| Network | Minutes | Texts | Data | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 80GB | £20.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 40GB | £20.00 |
| Unlimited +100 intl. | Unlimited | 20GB | £20.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 12GB | £20.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 12GB | £20.00 |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 10GB | £20.00 |
| Unlimited +unltd intl. | 1,000 | 10GB | £20.00 |
| 1,000 | Unlimited | 10GB | £20.00 |
| 1,500 | Unlimited | 4GB | £20.00 |
For more information, please see our full comparison of Pay As You Go bundles. You may also wish to consider Pay Monthly SIM cards if you’re happy to undergo a credit check and sign a contract.
Credit Expiry & Inactivity
On Lycamobile, your Pay As You Go credit will expire 90 days after the date of the relevant top-up. If your credit isn’t used within this 90-day window, it will expire and will no longer be available for you to use.
In addition, to keep your SIM card active, you should make a chargeable event or top-up at least once every 120 days. Chargeable events typically include making an outgoing phone call, sending a text message or accessing the mobile internet. You’ll receive a reminder from Lycamobile if you haven’t used your SIM card for a period of 90 days.
For more information, please see our in-depth guide on Pay As You Go inactivity and credit expiry.
Handsets
Lycamobile is a SIM-only mobile network. This means you’ll need to provide your own unlocked smartphone to use with Lycamobile. You can either unlock an existing smartphone (e.g. an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy) or you can buy a brand new unlocked smartphone.
When ordering your SIM card from the Lycamobile website, you’ll be asked to choose the right “SIM Type” for your phone. If you aren’t sure which size of SIM card you require, see our guide to smartphones and the required SIM card size in each one.
Network & Coverage
2G, 3G & 4G Coverage from O2
Lycamobile is a virtual network operator using O2 as their network coverage provider. Customers using Lycamobile should therefore receive the same level of coverage as customers on O2. At the time of writing, this is 99% population coverage for calling and texting. There’s also 97% population coverage for high-speed 4G internet.
Before ordering a SIM card from Lycamobile, we strongly recommended checking the coverage in your area. You can do this by entering your postcode on the Lycamobile’s online coverage map:
Check Lycamobile Coverage (lycamobile.co.uk) →
It’s also possible to get coverage from O2 through giffgaff, Sky Mobile or Tesco Mobile.
Tethering Isn’t Permitted
Tethering or personal hotspot refers to the process of sharing your smartphone’s internet connection with other devices (e.g. with your laptop or tablet).
Unfortunately, Lycamobile does not allow you to use tethering or portable hotspot on their network. The restriction is stated within their bundle terms and conditions:
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.
If you’d like a mobile network on which you’re able to tether, please see our guide to the best tariffs for tethering in the UK.
Keeping Your Phone Number
If you’re switching from another mobile network to Lycamobile, it’s a straightforward process to keep your current phone number.
As an incentive for moving your phone number over, you’ll receive up to £15 of free credit for doing this. This consists of £2.50 bonus credit immediately upon transferring your phone number. You’ll then get an additional £2.50/month in the following five months providing you top-up your SIM card each month (the minimum top-up is £5 each time).
If you’d like to transfer your number to Lycamobile, start by contacting your old mobile network and asking them for a PAC Code. A PAC Code is nine-digits long and will authorise the transfer of your phone number to Lycamobile. It’s a legal requirement for your old mobile network to provide you with this.
Once you have the PAC Code from your old network, order your free SIM card from the Lycamobile website. After your new SIM card arrives in the post, fill out this online form to get your phone number moved over.
For step-by-step instructions on moving your phone number to Lycamobile, please select your current mobile network from the dropdown menu below:
Please note: 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 credit on your old mobile network before moving your number to Lycamobile.
More Information
For more information, please see the Lycamobile website. You may also find it of interest to read our full comparison of international calling rates.
Lexus said:
Good day. I used the 10 pound plan with 100 international minutes and activation code *139*11544# during last few months. But last week it stop worked. What happens?
Qayyum said:
I top up £10 in lycamobile some but next-day I found money disappeared.
luma replied:
It happens with me too which put me off of top op my phone.
Sara said:
I have no problems with Lyca regarding the value for money etc the only thing that bugs me about it is finding the bloody bundle codes, which does take some finding!!!!!!!