By Networks like 1pMobile, IQ Mobile, Lyca Mobile, Spusu and Talk Home piggyback on EE’s network for coverage.
If you’d like to access EE’s coverage on your mobile phone, it isn’t always necessary to be an EE customer. That’s because a number of other mobile networks also offer EE coverage – often at a much lower price.
For instance, you can access an EE mobile signal when you’re using a SIM card from 1p Mobile, IQ Mobile, Lyca Mobile, spusu or Talk Home Mobile. That’s because the five mobile networks piggyback on EE for coverage.
In this article, we’ll look at the mobile networks that offer coverage from EE. We’ll start by looking at the best value deals with EE coverage including SIM-only deals, unlimited data plans and Pay As You Go deals. We’ll then look at each mobile network in more detail, including the specific features and benefits they offer.
| EE Coverage: | 99% UK population coverage |
|---|---|
| Networks Using EE: | |
| Best SIM Only Plans: |
(one-month rolling contract) |
| Best Unlimited Data Plan: | £29.90 for unlimited data on Spusu (1-month contract with no credit check & 5G coverage from EE) |
| Best For Roaming: | Inclusive EU & India data roaming on Lyca Mobile (up to 12GB on limited data plans, 35GB on unlimited plans) |
| Best for Customer Benefits: | 6 months Apple Music on EE & plans with Inclusive Extras |
| Best Pay As You Go Plan: | 1p/minute, 1p/text & 1p/MB on 1pMobile (no credit check, minimum spend of £10 every 60 days) |
Contents
Overview of Networks Using EE
If you’re looking to get EE’s coverage on your mobile phone, there are currently five other mobile networks that you’re able to join, besides EE themselves. These networks are 1p Mobile, IQ Mobile, Lyca Mobile, Spusu and Talk Home.
Regardless of the provider you choose, you’ll have access to the same EE coverage. However, the price of your plan may be different, along with the customer benefits (such as roaming, or inclusive entertainment).
The following table shows a side-by-side comparison of mobile networks that offer coverage from EE:
| Mobile Network | Plans From | EE Coverage | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1p Mobile | 1p/minute, 1p/text & 1p/MB | 5G |
|
| EE | £10/month | 5G |
|
| IQ Mobile | £7/month | 5G | |
| Lyca Mobile | £4.25/month | 5G |
|
| spusu | £2.90/month | 5G |
|
| Talk Home Mobile | £5/month | 5G |
|
Best SIM Only Deals
If you’re looking for a low-cost SIM-only plan with EE coverage, the best value plans can typically be found on Lyca Mobile and Spusu. Both of them offer one-month rolling plans, with 4G & 5G coverage from the EE network.
| Network | Data | Monthly Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB data | £2.90 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
| 16GB data | £3.00 for 3 months, then £8 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
| 25GB data | £5.00 for 3 months, then £10 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
| 50GB data | £6.50 for 3 months, then £15 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
| 88GB data | £8.00 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
| 100GB data | £10.00 for 3 months, then £20 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
Unlimited Data Plans
If you’re looking for unlimited data, this is currently available from £29.90 per month on Spusu. It’s a one-month rolling plan, so you can easily change it or cancel it at any time.
| Network | Data | Monthly Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited data | £29.90 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
It’s also possible to get an unlimited data plan direct from EE. EE’s unlimited data plans start from £20 per month (unless you’re an EE home broadband customer, in which case you can get it from £10). However, it’s worth keeping an eye out for the maximum speed restrictions (10Mbps on No Frills and 100Mbps on Essential). On the All Rounder plan, you’ll get the fastest available speeds and an Inclusive Extra.
| Plan | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each March by £1.50) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Essential
| Unlimited data 100Mbps max speed | £20.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
No Frills
| Unlimited data 10Mbps max speed | £30.00 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
All Rounder
| Unlimited data | £42.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
Full Works
| Unlimited data | £48.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
For more information, see our full guide to unlimited data plans in the UK.
International Roaming
On EE’s Pay Monthly plans, you’ll need to pay an extra £2.47 per day to use your phone in Europe. In contrast, most of the other providers using EE coverage still offer EU roaming at no extra cost.
For most people, we’d recommend choosing a Lyca Mobile plan for international roaming. That’s because they have fairly generous data roaming limits (12GB per month on limited data plans, and 35GB per month on unlimited data plans). In addition, you can get your plan on a Lyca Mobile eSIM, for instant online delivery and the ability to use it alongside another SIM card.
| Network | Data | Monthly Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5GB data (5GB roaming) | £4.25 per month 3 months free 24 month contract | See deal |
| 50GB data (12GB roaming) | £6.50 for 3 months, then £15 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
| 88GB data (12GB roaming) | £8.00 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
| 100GB data (12GB roaming) | £10.00 for 3 months, then £20 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
| Unlimited data (35GB roaming) | £15.00 for 3 months, then £25 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
You’ll be able to use your data allowance at no extra cost in both the EU and India. Lyca Mobile also offers a number of AloTurka plans with inclusive roaming in Turkey.
Customer Benefits
If you’re looking for a SIM-only plan with added customer benefits, it’s worth considering a plan direct from EE. For instance, all of their Pay Monthly plans come with 6 months of inclusive Apple Music (worth £10.99 per month).
If you choose one of EE’s All Rounder plans (available from £42 per month), you’ll also get an Inclusive Extra for the entire length of your contract. The value of the Inclusive Extra depends on what you choose. For instance, if you were to choose the TNT Sports on discovery+ Extra, this would save you £20 per month. It may therefore save you money overall, compared to getting another plan and separately subscribing to TNT Sports. On the other hand, some of the inclusive extras are worth as little as £5.99 per month so you might be better off getting it separately.
| Plan | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each March by £1.50) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
All Rounder
| Unlimited data | £42.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
On the other mobile networks, you’re won’t get as much in terms of additional customer benefits. However, the lower monthly price can offset this, along with the other features available such as inclusive EU roaming.
Pay As You Go
If you’re looking for a Pay As You Go plan with coverage from EE, there are three main options:
- 1p Mobile offers a traditional Pay As You Go service, where you’ll pay 1p/minute, 1p/text and 1p/MB. However, there’s a minimum spend of £10 every 60 days so it isn’t suitable for very light users.
- EE offers a range of Data Pack bundles on Pay As You Go. Plans start from £10 per month with access to EE’s 4G network and a maximum download speed of 25Mbps.
- Talk Home offers a traditional Pay As You Go service, where there’s no need to top-up every month. You’ll pay 1p/minute, 1p/text and 1p/MB on their ‘Penny Pro’ plan. However, you’ll need to manually opt-in to this plan every 30 days to get the lower rate. In addition, you’ll need to make a chargeable activity at least once every 90 days to keep your SIM card active.
For more information, see our guide to the best Pay As You Go SIM cards in the UK.
Mobile Networks Using EE Coverage
Flexible PAYG with low rates, but £10 min. spend per 60 days
1pMobile
| Plans From: | 1p/minute, 1p/text and 1p/MB |
| Types of Plan: |
Pay As You Go |
| Coverage: | Uses EE network (5G) – check postcode |
| Network Speeds: | Uncapped 5G speeds |
| Reasons To Buy: |
|
| Reasons To Avoid: |
|
If you’re looking for a Pay As You Go mobile service with 5G coverage from EE, 1pMobile offers a flexible Pay As You Go plan with rates of just 1p/minute, 1p/text and 1p/MB. The catch is that you’ll need to spend at least £10 every 60 days on the service. This is equivalent to spending an average of £5 per month.
If you’d like a bundle, they have a range of options available from £7.50 per month. For instance, you can get 4GB data for £7.50, 25GB data for £10 and 50GB data for £15. On all of these plans, you’ll get unlimited UK minutes and unlimited UK texts included.
As a special offer for readers of this website, you can get a 4GB Data Boost for free when you activate a new 1pMobile SIM card. Simply order your SIM card through this link and enter VAKTT4GB as your voucher code at the checkout.
1pMobile has been around since 2016. It’s a sister company of the Utility Warehouse and is also part of the FTSE 250-listed Telecom Plus PLC. According to their latest report, they have 420,000 mobile customers, split across the 1pMobile and Utility Warehouse brands. This makes them a medium-sized provider, with a track record over the last 8 years.
Best for customer benefits & for savings with EE home broadband
EE
| Plans From: | £10 per month |
| Types of Plan: |
Pay Monthly & Pay As You Go |
| Coverage: | Uses EE network (5G) – check postcode |
| Network Speeds: | 10Mbps (No Frills) 25Mbps 4G (Pay As You Go) 100Mbps (Essentials) Uncapped 5G speeds (All Rounder & Full Works) |
| Reasons To Buy: |
|
| Reasons To Avoid: |
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You can get a SIM-only deal directly from EE. This tends to be the most expensive way to get a SIM card with EE coverage. Having said that, the added benefits such as 6 months Apple Music can make this worthwhile for some, along with the Inclusive Extras and the Stay Connected Data on certain plans.
At present, EE’s SIM-only deals start from £10 per month (or £10 per month if you’re an EE home broadband customer).
No Frills
EE’s cheapest plans are available as part of their No Frills range. Here, you’ll get download speeds of up to 10Mbps which is roughly equivalent to the speed of a basic 4G connection. You’ll also get the 6 months Apple Music included, but you won’t get other customer benefits like Inclusive Extras or Stay Connected Data.
| Plan | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each March by £1.50) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
No Frills
| 5GB data 10Mbps max speed | £25.00 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
No Frills
| Unlimited data 10Mbps max speed | £30.00 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
Essentials
For download speeds of up to 100Mbps, you can get an EE Essential SIM card from £10 per month. This is a good option for most users, and it comes with Stay Connected Data (allowing you to stay connected at 0.5Mbps, even when your data runs out).
| Plan | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each March by £1.50) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Essential
| 20GB data 100Mbps max speed | £10.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
Essential
| 50GB data 100Mbps max speed | £13.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
Essential
| Unlimited data 100Mbps max speed | £20.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
All Rounder
The next level up is EE’s All Rounder plans, which start from £42 per month. On these plans, you’ll get an Inclusive Extra included for the length of your contract, such as Netflix, Apple Music or TNT Sports Ultimate. You’ll also get EE’s fastest available speeds.
| Plan | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each March by £1.50) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
All Rounder
| Unlimited data | £42.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
Full Works
Finally, EE’s flagship Full Works plan is available from £48 per month. It comes with unlimited data and 3 Smart Benefits for the entire length of your contract. You’ll also get EE’s fastest available speeds.
| Plan | Data | Monthly Cost (will rise each March by £1.50) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Full Works
| Unlimited data | £48.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
Full Works
| Unlimited data | £48.00 per month 24 month contract | See deal |
EE Home Broadband Customers
If you’re an EE home broadband customer, you can take advantage of their ‘unlimited data unlocked‘ promotion. With this, you’ll pay £10/month for the No Frills unlimited data plan (for speeds of up to 10Mbps), £13/month for the Essentials unlimited data plan (up to 100Mbps), and £19/month for the All Rounder unlimited data plan (with uncapped download speeds and one Inclusive Extra).
Pay As You Go
It’s also possible to use EE on a Pay As You Go basis with no contract and no credit check. However, EE’s Pay As You Go Packs will only give you access to 4G coverage. They’re also capped at a maximum download speed of 25Mbps and you won’t have access to benefits like Apple Music or Inclusive Extras.
A small provider with 3-month plans and bespoke, personal service
IQ Mobile
| Plans From: | £7 per month |
| Types of Plan: |
Pay Monthly |
| Coverage: | Uses EE network (5G) – check postcode |
| Network Speeds: | Uncapped 5G speeds |
| Reasons To Buy: |
|
| Reasons To Avoid: |
|
If you’re looking for a small and independent provider that offers EE coverage, IQ Mobile offers SIM-only deals from £7/month. When you sign up, you’ll need to pay for the first 3 months upfront. However, after that, it’s a one-month rolling agreement so you can cancel your plan at any time.
IQ Mobile offers inclusive EU roaming on all of their plans. They also promise “bespoke and personal service from a small expert team” based in Bath, Wells and London.
Contract-free plans with an introductory saving, intl roaming & calls
Lyca Mobile
| Plans From: | £5 per month |
| Types of Plan: |
Pay As You Go (no contract & no credit check) |
| Coverage: | Uses EE network (5G) – check postcode |
| Network Speeds: | Uncapped 5G speeds |
| Reasons To Buy: |
|
| Reasons To Avoid: |
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Lyca Mobile offers low-cost Pay As You Go plans with no contract, no credit check, and access to EE’s 5G network. You’ll get inclusive roaming in both Europe and India on all of their plans. There are also inclusive international minutes and support for the latest eSIM technology.
The following table shows Lyca Mobile’s latest SIM-only deals:
| Network | Data | Monthly Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88GB data | £8.00 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
The main disadvantage to be aware of is the fact that the price of your plan will increase at the end of your introductory period. However, there’s no contract and the plans are flexible, so you easily change or cancel it at any time.
Another disadvantage of Lyca Mobile is the fact that customers won’t have access to band 20 LTE spectrum. This is sometimes important in more rural areas, meaning you might be better off on another network if you need access to this.
A new provider with EU calls, EU roaming & WhatsApp support
Spusu
| Plans From: | £2.90 per month |
| Types of Plan: |
Pay Monthly |
| Coverage: | Uses EE network (5G) – check postcode |
| Network Speeds: | Uncapped 5G speeds |
| Reasons To Buy: |
|
| Reasons To Avoid: |
|
If you’re looking for a low-cost SIM-only plan that’s available on a one-month rolling basis, Spusu is a new provider that offers plans from £2.90 per month with 5G coverage on EE. All of their plans come with unlimited UK minutes, unlimited texts and 500 international minutes for calling EU countries. You’ll also have the option of getting customer support through WhatsApp or Signal.
The following table shows spusu’s latest SIM-only deals in the UK:
| Network | Data | Monthly Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1GB data | £2.90 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
| 16GB data | £3.00 for 3 months, then £8 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
| 20GB data | £6.90 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
| 30GB data | £9.90 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
| 40GB data | £10.90 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
| 50GB data | £12.90 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
| 25GB data | £12.90 for 3 months, then £9.90 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
| Unlimited data | £29.90 per month 1 month contract | See deal |
In the UK, Spusu is still a fairly new provider with a limited track record. They launched in April 2023 and have only 24 customer reviews on Trustpilot, at the time of writing. Having said that, they’ve been around in other European countries, having been founded in Austria in 2015. It’s believed they currently have 500,000 customers in Austria, along with an undisclosed number of customers in Italy.
1-month and 12-month plans with an introductory discount
Talk Home Mobile
| Plans From: | £5 per month |
| Types of Plan: |
Pay Monthly & Pay As You Go |
| Coverage: | Uses EE network (5G) – check postcode |
| Network Speeds: | Uncapped 5G speeds |
| Reasons To Buy: |
|
| Reasons To Avoid: |
|
Talk Home Mobile offers SIM-only plans with access to 4G & 5G coverage from EE. When you sign up as a new customer, you can benefit from a reduced price for up to 3 months. After that, the price of your plan will increase.
The following table shows Talk Home Mobile’s SIM-only deals:
| Network | Data | Monthly Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4GB data | £0.01 for 3 months, then £5 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
| 8GB data | £0.99 for 3 months, then £8 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
| 20GB data | £1.99 for 3 months, then £10 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
| 50GB data | £6.50 for 3 months, then £15 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
| 100GB data | £8.50 for 3 months, then £20 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
| Unlimited data | £13.50 for 3 months, then £35 per month 1 month rolling | See deal |
All of Talk Home Mobile’s SIM-only plans come with inclusive roaming in the EU and Australia. However, there’s no access to Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling at present. In addition, you won’t have access to EE’s band 20 LTE coverage (800MHz).
Talk Home Mobile also offers a traditional Pay As You Go plan, where there’s no need to top-up every month. On their Penny Pro plan, you’ll pay 1p/minute, 1p/text and 1p/MB. However, you’ll need to manually opt-in to this plan every 30 days. In addition, you’ll need to use your mobile phone for a chargeable activity once every 90 days to keep it active.
Other Networks
There are a number of very small mobile networks that also offer coverage from EE:
- CMLink UK (from China Mobile) and CTExcel UK (from China Telecom) are both aimed at the Chinese expat/student community. On both of their services, you’ll get inclusive features such as international calls to China. There’s also the ability to link it to a Chinese phone number for receiving calls and texts, as well as the ability to get customer support in Chinese.
- Ecotalk and Your Co-Op Mobile are ‘ethical’ providers. With Ecotalk, all of the profits will go towards buying land that is given back to nature. Meanwhile, Your Co-Op Mobile will fund carbon reduction projects, as well as tree planting on behalf of their customers.
- RWG Mobile is the ‘mobile network for Wales’. They offer a range of SIM-only plans with bi-lingual customer support in English and Welsh.
- UW (the Utility Warehouse) offers a range of SIM-only plans to go with their energy and insurance services. Customers are typically introduced to the service through ‘partners’ who will earn commission for recommending services from UW.
In the past, there were several other mobile networks that also offered coverage from EE. These include ASDA Mobile (now offering Vodafone coverage), BT Mobile (which closed to new customers in October 2022), Plusnet Mobile (which closed to new customers in March 2023), To The Moon Mobile (now closed), Vectone Mobile (now closed) and Virgin Mobile (now closed).
In addition, the old Orange and T-Mobile networks were absorbed into EE, following their merger in 2010.
More Information
For more information, you can read our in-depth reviews of 1p Mobile, EE, Lyca Mobile, Spusu, and Talk Home.
Peter Whisker said:
It seems that EE MVNOs which have VoLTE (I’ve tested Lyca and Spusu) do not get access to EE’s HD voice peering and calls to other networks are not HD. Despite the Lyca or Spusu call showing “HD” and using AMR-WB on the VoLTE connection on the Lyca or Spusu side, a call to another network such as Vodafone routes as AMR-NB (non-HD) suggesting they don’t have access to EE’s core IMS HD voice peering.
On the other hand SMARTY and Lebara do seem to have access to the core network (Three and Vodafone) IMS peering and end-to-end calls are in real EVS or AMR-WB to host and other networks respectively.
Harold Wilson said:
Hi Ken,
I have a similar question as Richard Driscoll.
My son has a proper EE SIM and when used at home, he gets quite decent data speeds (we tested over several days) but my Lyca SIM barely manages a fraction of his speed.
so, it’s not even about Volte calling.
is there anything that can explain the differences?
he is using an older OnePlus phone and I have a newer Pixel 8 phone.
when I use a Vodafone SIM in my phone, I can get much higher speed than the Lyca (although not quite as high as my son’s EE SIM)
David Armstrong said:
I’ve just switched to Lycamobile which is working well but I’ve just discovered they don’t provide WiFi calling, which I need at home. Do any of the other companies using the EE network provide WiFi calling as I can’t find any information about it?
Ken replied:
Hi David,
Thanks for my comment. There’s more information about Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling in my full guide here. However, my understanding is that Lyca Mobile are going to launch this feature imminently, now that they’ve moved to the EE network.
Ken