There are a few things that you’ll need to consider before deciding which plan is for you. These are decisions you’ll need to make based on your own personal circumstances, depending on what it is you need from your operator: Price The UK has four network providers: EE, O2, Three and Vodafone. Each provider rents some spectrum from the Governments and is responsible for maintaining their mast infrastructure Like minimum usage requirements, all pay as you go providers have minimum top-up amounts and a set period of how long each top-up will last for. We recommending choosing a network that only requires you to use the phone once every 270 days. Reliable Coverage On a per-second basis, you are charged for the exact length of your call. For example, giffgaff charge their calls at 15p/minute and bill per second. If you were to make a phone call lasting for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, you’d be charged 38p for the call (that’s 2.5 minutes x 15p per minute = 37.5p in total).

Credit Expiry: If you don’t convert your credit into a one month bundle then your credit will expire after 180 days. On some networks, you’ll only need to use your SIM card for a chargeable call or text message once every 270 days. However, others have much shorter time frames with ID mobile-only offering 90 days.Not everyone needs a pay as you go SIM card to come with a bundle of minutes and text messages, and not everyone wants to be tied into a long term 12-month contract either. So if you only need data but want ultimate flexibility then a pay as you go data only sim for your tablet, mobile dongle or even your smartphone is all you need. If you’re shopping for a new PAYG SIM deal, then we’ve got everything that you need to know right here and we’ll cover: This is where you buy a SIM outright. None of the money you will pay goes on the SIM itself (which is essentially free) but on the amount of data that comes pre-loaded onto the SIM. You can, rather wastefully, buy a SIM with preloaded data, use up the data and throw it away, or more sensibly you can top up the amount of data as required.

The reason is that if there are 180 days of inactivity on your account, outgoing phone calls will be forwarded to ASDA’s automated service. So you’ll need to call them to reactive the SIM. Inbound calls and messages still work. SPEED YOU WILL LOVE: Working from Home, Streaming Online, Gaming, Scrolling through Social Media - The O2 4G/5G Preloaded SIM card provides amazing performance without any speed restrictions How can you top up your credit? Depending on the operator you choose there are plenty of possibilities and most offer pre-paid bundles that automatically recur every 30 days. With some operators, you can buy top-up cards in supermarkets, with some you need to have an online connection, with some you can SMS to get more credit, with some you can buy credit at a cash machine. You need to think about convenience here. Can you top up your credit at 1 a.m. on a Saturday morning?! Coverage However, on some smaller MVNO networks, your credit expires after 90 days and is removed from your account.

Credit Expiry: None, but you must use the services at least once every 180 days to keep the SIM active. If you don’t use the SIM In 270 days all activity will be barred from your SIM card and all credit will be removed. You'll pay more for your data – As with PAYG on a regular mobile SIM it's a trade-off. Sure, you'll only pay for what you use, but on the other hand the cost per GB of data is going to be substantially higher if you don't take out a contract. Getting your data for less is the reason to have a contract, in fact, and why most people choose to do it that way If you do have a SIM with a short inactivity period, then it’s possible you can get inadvertently disconnected, losing your number and remaining credit. This can be infuriating as when it comes to using your phone; it’s no longer usable.

If you’d like a more in-depth look at bundles, our dedicated PAYG bundles post covers the pros and cons of the best offers right now. Network Coverage and signal is also a key factor as many customers in the market are looking for a phone purely for use in emergencies.When it comes to light use, there are a few things you want the SIM to offer, as well as a few things to avoid. Here’s what to look out for: No Recurring Monthly Charges

Credit Expiry: Credit doesn’t expire but you need to make one chargeable call every six months to keep your SIM live. Some operators offer bundles on their PAYG service. This means that rather than just buying credit and using it, you can instead buy a certain number of minutes and texts and a certain amount of data for a set price. This price is usually cheaper than simply using your credit. Not all operators do this, but most do, and depending on how you use your phone, bundling could be to your advantage. Data Getting mobile service can seem like an overwhelming set of choices. There are so many operators, so many plans, and so many different prices.

Three Preloaded Data SIM

For light users, this generally isn’t too big a concern, but it still makes sense to choose a pay as you go sim that will make your money fo further but without compromising on the other factors listed above.