Ask Our Expert

Unlimited mobile calling tariffs

Our mobile expert says...

The first thing you need to do is find out exactly how many minutes you actually use each month. 300 minutes is quite low so even though you exceed your allowance each month, you might not need an unlimited talk tariff - a plan with 500 or 600 minutes might be sufficient.

Look at your bills or get in touch with your mobile phone provider who should be able to tell you how many minutes you use each month. You should also look at how many text messages you send as well, since this could also be contributing to your high bills.

Knowing exactly where your mobile money goes each month will help you find a plan better suited to your needs; how many minutes do you use, how many texts do you send, do you ever use the internet on your phone, do you make calls to friends and family abroad, are most of the calls you make to people on the same network? These are the questions you need to ask yourself.

Galaxy S3(blue) £0.00	300 min Unlimited texts	£32.00
iPhone 4S (16GB)(black) £0.00	Unlimited min Unlimited texts	£36.00

Compare mobile phones deals.

Talk to your provider

Before you think about switching your mobile phone contract, talk to your existing network provider to find out if they can upgrade you to a better-suited tariff. Providers often offer better deals to customers in order to hold on them, so it’s always a good idea to talk to customer service before you go ahead and switch.

Unlimited talk tariffs

If you look at your talking habits and decide that you do need a tariff with unlimited minutes, there are loads of options available.

Tesco Mobile offers a great no frills pay-monthly mobile phone deal, with “unlimited” calls and texts for just £30 a month - subject to a very generous fair usage policy of £500 a month. It’s a sim-only offer, so you need to have your own handset, but with a rolling one month contract and minimum commitment, it is a very tempting deal.

Tesco’s lower tariffs operate a “flexible credit” system, offering you £40 to spend on calls and texts for just £10 a month, £60 of credit for £15 a month, £80 for £20 a month or £100 of calls and texts for £25 a month.

O2 Mobile also offers an unlimited calling plan, which costs £40 a month if you take the sim-only option and use your own phone, or £55 a month if you want a “free” handset.

Its cheaper sim-only options, which come with 1,200 minutes for £25 a month, 900 minutes for £20 or 600 minutes for £15 a month, each come with unlimited calls to other O2 customers and unlimited texts. You can get the same amount of minutes with a phone included but you will have to pay more each month.

High talk allowances

While not all mobile phone providers offer unlimited call packages, those that don’t still have tariffs with thousands of minutes and hundreds of texts every month.

Of those providers that don’t offer unlimited calling plans, Three Mobile offers the most minutes for your money.

You can get a massive 1,100 minutes for just £27 a month, 900 minutes for £24 or 700 minutes for £21. However, as flexible credit tariffs, your texts will also come out of this allowance, using a minute of talk time for each text you send.

T-Mobile doesn’t offer an unlimited talk plan but its top pay month tariffs offer a massive 1,200 minutes a month, and you get a free Flexible Booster every month. However, 1,200 minutes will set you back at least £35 a month or you can get 900 minutes a month for £25.

You can choose from unlimited texts, unlimited internet, unlimited calls to other T-Mobile customer, unlimited calls to landlines or a choice of three international calling Boosts. You can even change your Boost every 30 days and personalise your calling plan to suit your needs.

Vodafone Mobile’s top talk plan comes with a whopping 3,000 minutes - enough for 50 hours of talking every month. While this plan will set you back £75 a month, there are cheaper options that come with more than enough minutes; you could get 1,200 or 900 minutes for £40 or £35 a month respectively.

Like Vodafone, Orange Mobile’s top talk plan offers 3,000 minutes, but there are 1,200, 900 and other lower allowance options available.

Depending on the type of call plan you choose, you can also get added extras, such as unlimited landline calls on the Racoon plans.

The highest number of minutes offered by Virgin Mobile is 1,000 a month but only on its sim-only deal at £35 a month. If you want a phone thrown in, you can get 800 minutes for £35 a month on an 18 month contract or £30 on a 24 month plan.

The best plan for you

As you can see, Tesco offers the best deal on talk packages by far - and it also uses O2’s network so you know that you'll get a good standard of mobile coverage.

Sim-only deals - like those offered by Tesco and O2 - are also great value for money even if you decide to go for a tariff with a set calling allowance rather than unlimited minutes.

Even if you do want a new phone, you can buy a pay-as-you-go handset outright and even get a touchscreen phone for £20 or £30, and continue to save on your monthly bills.