Tesco Mobile PAYG customers upgraded to 4G for free

Tesco Mobile has announced that its Pay-as-you-Go customers will now get automatically upgraded to 4G data speeds, at no extra cost. The upgrade, which began rolling out yesterday, should be making its way to all customers with a compatible 4G handset, with no need to swap over SIM cards.

Pay monthly users on Tesco Mobile have been using 4G at no extra cost for some time now, but this marks the first time PAYG users are able to join in with high-speed downloads in covered areas. With a range of data bundle deals, starting at 500MB and going up to 8GB, Tesco Mobile is certainly flexible for anyone that knows they use a lot of mobile data, but the network also lets customers use 4G without a bundle for 10 pence per megabyte.

Tesco Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), meaning it uses spare mobile spectrum from another network rather than owning its own dedicated spectrum. The network in question is O2, meaning Tesco Mobile customers will get 4G access in the areas O2 has upgraded with faster LTE broadcast towers. With 13 towns and cities covered so far, the company has a long way to go to match EE’s 100+ locations, but it is growing on a regular basis. Customers can check which areas are covered by 4G on O2’s coverage checker.

“No-one likes being made to wait around and we see no reason why our pay-as-you-go customers shouldn’t have access to the same speeds as pay monthly ones,” Simon Groves, Tesco Mobile’s CMO said of the announcement. “We now offer 4G to all our customers at prices that are accessible to everyone.”

Tesco Mobile will be pushing entry-level 4G handsets in stores and online following the switchover, with the Motorola Moto G available for £139 and Nokia’s Lumia 635 on sale for £199.