Pay As You Go Networks: Compare Minimum Call Charges, Per-Minute & Per-Second Billing

Pay As You Go mobile networks differ in the method they use to charge customers for a call. Techniques such a minimum call charge and per-minute billing can add substantially to the cost of your service.

In the UK, it’s estimated that half of all phone calls last for under one minute. With most Pay As You Go networks now imposing a minimum call charge, you could be stung up to 35p when your phone call connects and when you hang up immediately (e.g. after reaching someone’s voicemail). Many mobile networks have also switched to using per-minute billing where the length of all phone calls is rounded up to a full minute before your account gets charged. These two techniques can add fairly substantially to the overall cost of your Pay As You Go service.

In this article, we’ll compare the UK’s Pay As You Go mobile networks and how much they charge for outgoing calls on their network. We’ll look at minimum call charges and which billing method is employed on each network (per-minute billing or per-second billing).

Table: Minimum Call Charge & Billing Method on UK Mobile Networks

The table below shows you the per-minute rate and the minimum call charge on UK Pay As You Go networks. We’ve also listed how each network is charging for their calls: whether it’s on a per-minute or on a per-second basis. You can use this table along with the guidance below it when choosing your next Pay As You Go network. You can also refer to our other useful guides before choosing a new network.

To sort the table, please click on the relevant column heading.

Network	Calls (per min)	Minimum Call Charge	Charging Type
1pMobile	1p/min	1p per call	✘ per-minute billing
ASDA Mobile	15p/min	15p per call	✘ per-minute billing
EE	40p/min	40p per call	✘ per-minute billing
giffgaff	25p/min	25p per call	✔ per-second billing
iD Mobile	3p/min	3p per call	✔ per-second billing
Lebara Mobile	25p/min	25p per call	✘ per-minute billing
O2	55p/min	55p per call	✘ per-minute billing
Tesco Mobile Triple Credit	25p/min	10p per call	✔ per-second billing
Tesco Mobile Lite	8p/min	8p per call	✔ per-second billing
Three	35p/min	35p per call	✘ per-minute billing
Vodafone Big Value Bundles	35p/min	35p per call	✘ per-minute billing
Vodafone Pay As You Go 1	20p/min	20p per call	✘ per-minute billing
VOXI	30p/min	30p per call	✘ per-minute billing

Sources: 1pmobile.com, mobile.asda.com, ee.co.uk, giffgaff.com, idmobile.co.uk, mobile.lebara.com, o2.co.uk, tescomobile.com, tescomobile.com, three.co.uk, vodafone.co.uk, voxi.co.uk. Last updated on 23rd May 2023.

Minimum Call Charges

In the UK, our mobile networks don’t charge a separate connection fee for setting up your call (this is in contrast to landline providers who will typically charge a separate call connection fee).

Rather than having a separate call connection fee, UK mobile networks will typically have a minimum call charge for every outgoing phone call. On most mobile networks, this is equivalent to the cost of a one-minute phone call. You’ll still be charged for a full minute of calling even when you hang up the phone in under a minute. It’s a rather frustrating experience especially when around 50% of phone calls last for less than one minute. It also makes it costly when you reach someone else’s voicemail (you could be charged up to 35p for the privilege even when you hang up immediately).

If you regularly make phone calls lasting for less than one minute, it could be worth choosing a network with a lower minimum call charge. The Co-Operative Mobile stands out with the lowest minimum call charge of any UK network. They’ll charge only a minimum of 1p for every outgoing phone call (you’ll pay this whenever your phone call lasts for less than 7 seconds). Three is another strong and worthwhile contender: they charge a minimum of only 3p per call (you’ll pay this whenever your phone call lasts for less than 60 seconds).

The following UK networks have the lowest minimum charge when making a short call:

Network	Minimum Charge for Outgoing Calls
1pMobile	1p per call (up to 1 minute in length)
iD Mobile	3p per call (up to 1 minute in length)
Tesco Mobile Lite	8p per call (up to 1 minute in length)
Tesco Mobile Triple Credit	10p per call (up to 24 seconds in length)

Per-Second VS Per-Minute Billing

In the UK, mobile phone networks broadly split up into two separate camps: those that charge on a per-second basis and those that charge on a per-minute basis. Per-second billing is the cheaper option but many networks have recently moved towards per-minute billing. Switching to per-minute billing is a way to stealthily increase prices through the back door.

On mobile phone networks that charge on a per-second basis, you’ll always be charged for the exact length of your call. For instance, imagine a network using per-second billing and charging a rate of 30p/minute. If you were to make a phone call lasting for 1 minute and 30 seconds, you’d be charged 45p for the call (that’s 1.5 minutes x 30p per minute = 45p in total).

On mobile networks that use per-minute billing, the length of all phone calls is rounded up to a full minute. For instance, a phone call lasting for 1 minute and 30 seconds would be rounded up by your network to a full two minutes. You would then be charged 60p for the call (that’s 2 minutes x 30p per minute = 60p in total). On average, you would pay 15p extra for every outgoing call under per-minute billing at 30p/minute.

To illustrate this, the following table compares the cost of an outgoing phone call under per-second billing and per-minute billing. It assumes a rate of 30p/minute:

Length of Phone Call	Cost with per-second billing*	Cost with per-minute billing*
1 minute	30p	30p
1 minute, 15 seconds	38p	60p (22p more expensive)
1 minute, 30 seconds	45p	60p (15p more expensive)
1 minute, 45 seconds	53p	60p (7p more expensive)
2 minutes	60p	60p

* Calculations assume a rate of 30p/minute. The average cost saving is 15p per call using the network with per-second billing.
The actual impact on how much you’d save will depend on your mobile network’s per-minute rate. For instance, if your network charged 8p/minute then the average cost saving under per-second billing would be 4p per call.

In general, we would recommend choosing a network that uses per-second billing.

The following table shows how UK mobile networks split up across the two billing methods:

✔ Networks with Per-Second Billing	✘ Networks with Per-Minute Billing
You’ll be charged for the exact length of your phone calls. giffgaff iD Mobile Tesco Mobile	The length of all phone calls will be rounded up to a full minute. 1pMobile ASDA Mobile EE Lebara Mobile O2 Three Vodafone VOXI

More Information

For more information on how to choose a Pay As You Go network, see our in-depth articles with a Pay As You Go price comparison, a list of Pay As You Go bundles and our guide to inactivity and credit expiry on UK networks.

You can also order a free Pay As You Go SIM card.