About Tesco Mobile

Tesco Mobile sells pay monthly contracts, SIM-only plans and pay as you go, running on the O2 network, and a Tesco Mobile discount code is applied at the point of joining. A mobile deal is not really a purchase: it is a contract with a length, a credit element and a coverage assumption, and all three are worth checking before the tariff.

Check coverage at your own address

The network is O2's, so coverage where you live, work and commute follows O2's map rather than Tesco's brand. Coverage checkers are indicative and buildings block signal, so if you have friends on the same network, their experience at your address is better evidence than a map. Where indoor signal is weak, calling over wifi is the feature to look for.

A handset contract is a credit agreement

When a phone is bundled with airtime, the phone is being paid for over the term, and that portion is usually regulated credit with a credit check at sign-up. Splitting the device and the airtime into separate agreements, where offered, means the airtime can change without the phone being locked to it. Read the term length and what the monthly cost becomes after any introductory period, and remember that ending a contract early means settling the device balance.

SIM only, allowances and what happens at the limit

A SIM-only plan on a rolling monthly basis is the flexible option and usually the cheapest per gigabyte. Check what happens when data runs out: whether it stops, slows or charges, and whether unused data rolls into the next month. Tethering is sometimes restricted even where data is generous.

Roaming and switching away

Post-Brexit European roaming is no longer automatically free on all UK networks, so check what a plan includes abroad and what a daily charge would be. If you want to leave, you request a PAC code by text, give it to the new provider and keep your number; you do not cancel first, because cancelling first loses the number.

Using a Tesco Mobile discount code

Enter the code during signup and confirm the monthly figure and the total over the term, not just the first payment. Codes usually attach to specific tariffs or handset deals, apply to new customers, and do not combine with an existing Clubcard price.