With O2 and Three looking to merge and EE being purchased by BT, the choice of networks in the UK could soon drop to just three. The “virtual operators” who, like a lot of landline broadband providers, sit on top of other networks, are the only option if you’re looking for further choice.
EE introduced a number of new SIM-only plans recently. We had the leak ahead of the official announcement and couldn’t help but notice that some older plans had been “updated” to include European roaming.. and they’d become £1 more expensive in the process.
Watch out for more “plan refreshes” as networks seek to recoup the money they’ll be losing from the long-running cash-cow called “roaming charges”. This, in Europe at least, looks to be finishing in June next year with a cap on charges kicking in from April this year.
So, yesterday I received news that EE was going to increase my EE SIM-only cost too. The network is linking this with the Retail Price Index (RPI), which means a 1.3% monthly price increase. The full price change information is here and, as we’ve mentioned before, this is going to be a regular yearly thing now – expect the same in March next year too.
It might only seem like buttons (for example, a £45 per month plan will now be £45.59), but over the life of your plan it does add up.
Get further details on this EE page, where you can find a calculator to work out how much your new monthly cost will be.