Sky Mobile Review: SIM Cards & Handsets With Data Rollover & Sky TV Streaming

Sky Mobile offers flexible plans with rollover of unused data and unlimited streaming through Sky TV apps without using data.

In the UK, Sky Mobile offers mobile phone SIM cards and handsets, using 4G & 5G coverage from the O2 network.

There are a number of unique features on Sky Mobile. One of them is Roll, which allows you to roll over unused data for up to three years. Another is Watch which gives you unlimited streaming through Sky TV apps without using your data allowance if you’re a Sky TV customer. Customers buying a mobile phone from Sky can also benefit from Swap, which allows you to upgrade your device every year.

In this article, we’ll look at Sky’s mobile plans including their SIM-only deals and mobile handset plans. We’ll then look at some of the key features available on Sky Mobile including Roll, Watch, Swap and Mix. Finally, we’ll look at the coverage that’s available on Sky Mobile and how you can keep your existing phone number when moving to Sky Mobile.

Sky Mobile Plans

SIM Only Plans

The easiest way to join Sky Mobile is by getting one of Sky’s SIM-only plans. You’ll be given a new SIM card by Sky which can slot inside your existing unlocked mobile phone.

A range of different data allowances are available on a SIM-only basis:

Network	Data	Monthly Cost
O2 coverage Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	3GB data	£6.00 per month 12 month contract	See deal
O2 coverage Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	5GB data	£8.00 per month 12 month contract	See deal
O2 coverage Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	25GB data	£10.00 per month 12 month contract	See deal
O2 coverage Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	50GB data	£12.00 per month 12 month contract	See deal
O2 coverage Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	100GB data	£30.00 per month 12 month contract	See deal
O2 coverage Unlimited mins Unlimited texts	Unlimited data	£35.00 per month 12 month contract	See deal

You’ll benefit from Sky’s data rollover feature as standard when taking one of Sky’s SIM-only deals. You’ll also receive unlimited streaming through Sky TV apps without using your regular data allowance if you’re a Sky TV customer.

With Sky Mobile’s SIM-only deals, you’ll need to sign a 12 month contract. However, you have the flexibility to upgrade or downgrade your price plan at any time. For instance, you can upgrade your plan to get a larger allowance of data, or you can downgrade your plan to save some money each month. Upgrades to your price plan will take effect straight away whereas downgrades will take effect from your next billing period.

Handset Plans

If you’d like a new smartphone to go with your SIM card, Sky offers a selection of handsets from Apple, Samsung, Google, and others.

When choosing a new handset, you can decide between Swap24 (which allows you to upgrade your phone every 24 months) and Swap12 (which allows you to upgrade your phone every 12 months). Of the two, Swap24 gives you a lower monthly price and is normally recommended if you don’t need to upgrade your phone every year.

Once you’ve chosen the handset you want, you can then add one of Sky’s regular SIM cards to your plan. For instance, you could combine a handset that costs £25/month with a SIM card that costs £10/month. You’d then pay a total of £35/month for this package, including both your handset and airtime.

A full list of available handsets can be seen on the Sky Mobile website.

Tablet Plans

Sky also offers a number of Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy tablets on a choice of Swap36 and Swap24 plans.

The lowest monthly price is available on Swap36, which allows you to upgrade your tablet every 36 months. For more frequent upgrades, you can choose the Swap24 plan which allows you to swap your tablet every 24 months.

Once you’ve chosen your tablet, you can add one of the usual Sky Mobile SIM cards to it. Please see the Sky Mobile website for a full list of available tablets.

Pay As You Go

Sky doesn’t currently offer a Pay As You Go mobile service. This means you’ll always need to sign a contract and to undergo a credit check before joining Sky Mobile.

If you don’t want to sign a contract or undergo a credit check, you can choose a Pay As You Go SIM card from another mobile network. See our guide to the UK’s best value Pay As You Go SIM cards. Alternatively, if you’d like a different service with the same coverage as Sky Mobile, see our guide to mobile networks that piggyback on O2 for coverage.

Sky Mobile Features

There are four key features on the Sky Mobile network:

• Roll: Sky Mobile allows you to roll over your unused data for up to three years, so money isn’t wasted on data you don’t use. You can also share it with up to 5 other SIM cards that are attached to your account.
• Watch: If you’re a Sky TV customer, you’ll get unlimited streaming through Sky TV apps without needing to use your regular data allowance.
• Swap: You can upgrade your mobile phone to the latest model every 12 months or 24 months.
• Mix: You can change your plan at any time, either to get more data or to save some money every month.

In the following section, we’ll explore these four features in more detail.

Roll

On Sky Mobile, your unused data will roll over at the end of each month and will be added automatically into your Sky Piggybank. Your unused data can be stored in the piggybank for up to three years. This gives you the flexibility to use more data in future months by dipping in and withdrawing data from the piggybank.

If your family has multiple devices or SIM cards attached to the same Sky Mobile account, you’ll have a shared piggybank where everyone will share their unused data. This means there’s flexibility to move data between different people’s accounts (or between your smartphone and tablet if both of them are on the same Sky Mobile account).

Data can be withdrawn from your Sky Piggybank in 1GB increments. It typically costs £10 per extra gigabyte of data if you’re not using the Sky Piggybank feature.

If you have lots of unused data remaining in your Sky Piggybank, you can alternatively decide to cash it in for a reward instead. Rewards include money off a new device or a Sky Store voucher which can be used to buy or rent movies and TV shows.

Watch

If you’re a Sky Mobile customer with a Sky TV subscription, you’ll have access to a feature called Watch. This gives you unlimited data for use within the following Sky applications, without it counting towards your normal monthly data allowance:

Sky+ app, Sky Go app, Sky Q app, Sky Cinema app, Sky VR app, My Sky app, Sky Store app, Sky Kids app, Sky News app, Sky Sports app, Sky Sports Mobile TV app and the Sky Sports Box Office app

You’ll also get access to Sky Go Extra allowing you to download on-demand programmes for watching offline.

You can use the Sky Mobile Watch feature in the UK and Europe, as long as you have at least 50MB of your regular data allowance remaining. Additional subscription charges may still apply for content within the individual applications (e.g. if you’re buying something from the Sky Sports Box Office app).

Swap

Customers who’ve bought a mobile phone or tablet from Sky can easily swap their device for a newer model.

If you’re buying a mobile phone from Sky, you can choose from one of the following payment plans:

• Swap12: Swap your mobile phone for the latest model every year. This typically involves paying a higher monthly cost than on Swap24. The Swap12 tariff is offered on a 24-month credit agreement, with the proceeds of trading in your phone after 12 months being used to pay off the balance on your agreement.
• Swap24: Swap your mobile phone for a newer model every two years. This comes with a lower monthly cost than Swap12. Swap24 involves taking out a 36-month credit agreement, with the proceeds of your phone after 24 months being used against the balance on your agreement.

It’s worth noting that these aren’t directly comparable to more traditional 12-month or 24-month contracts. With Swap12 and Swap24, you’ll only be able to keep your old handset after completing the full length of your credit agreement (i.e. after 24 months on Swap12 or after 36 months on Swap24). On a traditional contract, you’ll normally own your handset after the initial 24-month period, leaving you free to do whatever you like with it (e.g. recycling it, giving it to a friend or family member, selling it on eBay, etc).

When swapping your handset after 12 or 24 months, your old credit agreement will normally be paid off in full providing your handset is in “full working order and undamaged”. Deductions may occur if your handset is damaged (e.g. from a broken screen). In this case, you may need to make an additional payment to clear off the remainder of your credit agreement before changing to a new device.

Swap Plan for Tablets

If you’re buying a tablet from Sky Mobile (e.g. an Apple iPad), you’ll have the option of two tablet-specific plans:

• Swap24 (tablets): Swap your tablet for a new one after 24 months. Comes on a 36-month credit agreement.
• Swap36 (tablets): Swap your tablet for a new one after 36 months. Comes on a 48-month credit agreement.

These tablet-specific Swap plans work in much the same way as the Swap plans for a mobile phone. Typically, tablets are upgraded much less frequently than mobile phones so they’re offered on a longer credit agreement.

Mix

Finally, Sky offers a feature called Mix as standard on all of their plans. This feature allows you to change your Sky Mobile plan at any time. For instance, you can upgrade to a plan with more data, or you can downgrade to a cheaper plan that has less data included.

Data plan upgrades take effect straight away, whereas data plan downgrades take effect from the following month.

For more information, please see the Sky Mobile website for details about the features available on their service.

Network & Coverage

4G & 5G Coverage from O2

Sky Mobile is a virtual network operator making use of coverage from the O2 network. This means customers using Sky Mobile will receive the exact same coverage as customers on O2.

At the time of writing, Sky has 99% population coverage for their mobile service in the UK. In addition, there’s access to 5G coverage, as long as you’re using a 5G-ready phone.

You can check the coverage in your area by entering your postcode on Sky’s online coverage map:

Check Sky Mobile Coverage (sky.com) →

We’d strongly recommend checking the coverage in your area before ordering your new phone, tablet or SIM card from Sky Mobile.

Tethering

Tethering or personal hotspot refers to the process of your sharing your smartphone’s internet connection with other devices (e.g. with a laptop or tablet). It’s a useful feature for getting a mobile broadband connection whilst you’re on-the-go (for instance, for doing some work on your laptop where free wi-fi isn’t available).

On Sky Mobile, it’s possible to tether without any restrictions. Any data that’s used through the tethering or the portable hotspot feature will simply be deducted as normal from your monthly download allowance.

International Roaming

Sky provides international roaming for customers who are travelling abroad to other countries.

For customers who are travelling inside the EU & EEA (the European Union & European Economic Area), Sky’s Roaming Passport feature allows you to use your normal UK allowances in 30 destinations at no extra charge.

In 12 other worldwide destinations (Australia, Canada, Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Qatar, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey and the USA), you can use your normal UK allowances for an extra £6/day. This is available as part of Sky’s Roaming Passport Plus.

Please see the Sky Mobile tariff guide for an in-depth list of roaming charges.

Keeping Your Phone Number

If you’re switching from another mobile network to Sky Mobile, it’s a straightforward process to keep your existing number.

To start with, ask your current mobile network to issue you with a PAC Code. You can normally get your PAC Code online or by texting PAC to 65075. Your PAC Code is a nine-digit code that authorises the transfer of your phone number to Sky Mobile.

Once you have the PAC Code from your current network, order your new phone or SIM card from the Sky Mobile website. To start with, you’ll be assigned a temporary phone number which will allow you to test out the Sky Mobile service.

When you’re happy to complete the transfer of your phone number, you should submit your PAC Code through this online form. Providing you do this before 5pm on a weekday, your phone number should normally be transferred on the next working day.

For step-by-step instructions on moving your phone number to Sky Mobile, please select your current mobile network from the drop down menu below:

If you’re looking to transfer a landline telephone number to Sky, a different process applies for doing this.

Popularity & Number of Subscribers

As of June 2019, Sky had 1 million customers on the Sky Mobile service. This makes them one of the UK’s fastest growing mobile networks, given the service only originally launched in December 2016.

When Sky Mobile first launched in December 2016, it originally offered just SIM-only plans. Over time, additional products were added to the line up such as handsets in mid-2017 and tablets in April 2018. Unlimited streaming through Sky TV apps was added as a feature in March 2019 for Sky Mobile customers with a Sky TV subscription.

More Information

For more information, please see the official Sky Mobile website.