Find out why this mobile network is the UK’s best

Tesco Mobile is right up there with some of the best-value deals you’ll find from any mobile network. If you’re a data fiend, you might want to check out joint value award winner, Lebara, but Tesco has a wide spread of deals, particularly on SIM-only.

Note that Tesco offers its best prices to customers who are part of its Clubcard loyalty scheme, so if you’re ordering online, you might want to sign up for the free Clubcard first. You can also use Clubcard vouchers gained from supermarket shopping to pay your phone bills. More details on this in the FAQs below.

Pay particular attention to those Clubcard deals, because they can mean a one-year contract is cheaper per month than a two-year deal, the latter of which might also include an annual price rise.

Speed

Score: 4.5/5

The data speed performance of the Tesco Mobile network is right up there with the best, according to the Telegraph readers we surveyed, with an 89 per cent satisfaction score for speed. That score was only matched by Giffgaff, which also piggybacks on the O2 network.

Tesco Mobile includes 5G and 4G coverage in all of its plans. 5G coverage for O2 (Tesco Mobile’s parent network) is some way behind that of EE, with the regulator Ofcom claiming O2’s 5G network has outdoor coverage to 70-76 per cent of UK premises. EE, by comparison, reaches 86-89 per cent.

Reliability

Score: 5/5

The Tesco Mobile customers we surveyed were happy with the reliability of the network. It achieved an 89 per cent satisfaction score for the reliability of voice and text, and 81 per cent for data coverage. Overall network reliability, covering issues such as outages, was up at 93 per cent.

Customer service

Score: 5/5

Tesco Mobile is head and shoulders above its rivals when it comes to customer service. A healthy 94 per cent of customers were satisfied with the ease of contact and 93 per cent were impressed with the quality of support. Those scores are at least 12 percentage points better than the next closest rival.

Tesco Mobile does, of course, have the advantage of in-house staff in many of its supermarkets, potentially making it easier to reach than other virtual network rivals that may rely on phone/online support alone.

Roaming

Score: 4/5

All of Tesco’s SIM-only contract deals include free EU roaming, although you should check the terms carefully on phone contract and PAYG deals. Of the Telegraph customers we surveyed, 80 per cent were satisfied with the roaming value on offer.