Mobile Networks Using O2 Coverage & Cheaper ‘O2 Piggyback’ SIM Cards

Mobile networks like giffgaff, Lycamobile, Sky Mobile and Tesco Mobile piggyback on O2’s 2G, 3G and 4G coverage.

The UK has four network coverage providers: EE, O2, Three and Vodafone. Each of the coverage providers maintain a network of mobile phone masts, licensing spectrum from the government and operating the physical towers. Alongside them, there’s a group of virtual network operators like giffgaff and Sky Mobile that “piggyback” on coverage from one of the four coverage providers.

At present, there are 6 other mobile networks that ‘piggyback’ on coverage from O2. If you’re a customer of one of these mobile networks, you’ll have access to the exact same coverage as customers on O2. This includes O2’s 99% population coverage on 2G, 3G and 4G (but not Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling as these are O2-specific services).

In this article, we’ll review the mobile networks piggybacking on O2 coverage, which will often give you larger allowances for a lower monthly price. We’ll compare the best value SIM cards at a range of price points, from £5/month up to more than £20/month.

Mobile Networks Using O2 Coverage

The following table shows a list of mobile networks using coverage from O2. On all of these mobile networks, you’ll have coverage wherever an O2 signal is normally available:

Mobile Network Brand		Coverage Provider		2G	3G	4G	Coverage Checker
	C4C Mobile		O2	✔	✔	✔	Check C4C Mobile Coverage
	CUniq		O2	✔	✔	✔	Check CUniq Coverage
	giffgaff		O2	✔	✔	✔	Check giffgaff Coverage
	Lycamobile		O2	✔	✔	✔	Check Lycamobile Coverage
	O2		O2	✔	✔	✔	Check O2 Coverage
	Sky Mobile		O2	✔	✔	✔	Check Sky Mobile Coverage
	Tesco Mobile		O2	✔	✔	✔	Check Tesco Mobile Coverage

As of January 2018, O2 mobile contracts are also being promoted by TalkTalk to their broadband & home phone customers. This replaces the old TalkTalk Mobile service (previously using coverage from Vodafone), with TalkTalk customers receiving a fully-branded O2 service.

For a complete list of other mobile networks and the coverage providers they’re using, see our in-depth guide to mobile phone coverage in the UK.

Tariff Information & Coverage Information

For more information about each mobile network, click on the relevant logo to visit the mobile network’s website:

• 
  O2
  3G & 4G
• 
  C4C Mobile
  3G & 4G
• 
  CUniq
  3G & 4G
• 
  giffgaff
  3G & 4G
• 
  Lycamobile
  3G & 4G
• 
  Sky Mobile
  3G & 4G
• 
  Tesco Mobile
  3G & 4G

If you’re a customer of O2 directly, you’ll have access to O2 customer-exclusive features such as O2 Priority. These offers are not available to customers of a virtual network operator, but there may be other network-specific features or offers (e.g. Sky Mobile’s data piggybank feature or giffgaff’s Payback rewards).

Deals By Price Range

In the rest of this article, we’ll compare the best value SIM cards using coverage from O2. All of the deals are separated out by price range and tariff type (e.g. Pay Monthly and Pay As You Go).

Please select your preferred price range to see a list of currently available deals:

• Pay As You Go
• Less than £10/month
• From £10/month
• From £15/month
• £20/month and more

Pay As You Go

If you’re looking for a traditional Pay As You Go tariff where you’re able to pay on a per-minute, per-text and per-megabyte basis, you’re currently best off on O2’s Classic Pay As You Go tariff. On Classic Pay As You Go, you’ll pay 3p/minute, 2p/text and 1p/MB. This even undercuts the price offered by virtual networks like giffgaff, who charge 15p/minute, 5p/text and 5p/MB.

Alternative Pay As You Go networks for more specialist usage include Lycamobile (which offers low-cost international phone calls), C4C Mobile (which offers inclusive charitable donations) and CUniq (which offers you a Chinese or Hong Kong phone number on your UK SIM).

Less than £10/month

If you’d like a SIM card for less than £10/month with coverage from O2, you can currently choose from giffgaff, Lycamobile, Sky Mobile and Tesco Mobile.

On a Pay Monthly contract, Sky Mobile offers SIM cards on a 12-month contract. If you’re a Sky TV customer, you’ll get unlimited calls and unlimited texts are included in the plan. For everyone else, it’s either an extra £10/month, or you can Pay As You Use at 10p/minute and 10p/text.

For the ultimate in flexibility, it’s worth having a look at Pay As You Go bundles, especially from giffgaff. Of particular note, giffgaff offers the £7.50 goodybag with 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB of data.

From £10/month

There are numerous deals available from £10/month with coverage from O2.

Our current recommendation is giffgaff’s £10 goodybag which gives you unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 3GB of data. It’s a Pay As You Go bundle so there’s no need to sign a contract or undergo a credit check. Also, once you’ve been a customer of giffgaff for 3 months, you’ll get an extra 1GB of data, boosting your monthly allowance up to 4GB per month.

The following table shows Pay Monthly contracts and Pay As You Go bundles from £10/month with coverage from O2:

From £15/month

The following deals are available from £15/month, and include coverage from O2:

£20/month and more

The following deals are available from £20/month with coverage from O2. For £25/month, giffgaff offers the £25 goodybag with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and Always-On data (unlimited downloads with 4G speeds on the first 20GB per month). This is available as a Pay As You Go bundle, so there’s no need to sign a contract or to undergo a credit check.

For more information about data speeds and tethering, tap the data allowances in the table above. For Pay Monthly contracts, you can tap the mobile network’s logo for information about the length of the contract.

More Information

For more information, see our in-depth guide on how mobile phone coverage works in the UK. You can also see our in-depth reviews of each UK network.