BT Mobile is a

mobile virtual network operator A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobil ...

(MVNO) provided by

BT Consumer BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-li ...

; a division of

BT Group BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-li ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

that was launched in March 2015. It uses the EE network via an MVNO agreement signed in March 2014 as well as using the spectrum BT won in the 2013 4G auction. EE is now owned by BT following a successful acquisition that was officially completed on 29 January 2016. BT Mobile operates alongside BT Business Mobile which is provided by the

BT Business and Public Sector BT Business and Public Sector was a division of United Kingdom telecommunications company BT Group that provided fixed-line, mobile, broadband and IT services to businesses (predominantly small and medium-sized enterprises) and the public sector ...

division. BT Mobile launched as a SIM-only service and had more than 400,000 customers . BT Mobile stopped accepting new consumer customers in October 2023, as part of plans by the

to make EE the main brand of the consumer business.

Products

SIM-only plans

BT Mobile is a fully fledged mobile service with handsets and sim only offers four 12-month contract plans as of 7 November 2020: # BT Mobile 500MB Plan – 500MB of data, 500 minutes and unlimited texts # BT Mobile 10GB Plan – 10GB of data, 1000 minutes and unlimited texts # BT Mobile 16GB Plan – 16GB of data, unlimited minutes and texts # BT Mobile 20GB Plan – 20GB of data, unlimited minutes and texts # BT Mobile 30GB Plan – 30GB of data, unlimited minutes and texts # BT Mobile 100GB – 100GB of data, unlimited minutes and texts Anyone living in a

BT Broadband BT Broadband is a broadband service offered by BT Consumer; a division of BT Group in the United Kingdom. It was formerly known as BT Total Broadband, BT Yahoo! Broadband and BT Openworld. With the introduction of BT Infinity, the Broadband packag ...

home is eligible for a £5 monthly discount on all BT Mobile plans - each account holder can have up to five discounted plans but there's no limit to the number of people in a house that can take up the offer.

Features

TNT Sports

Subscribers to BT Mobile can watch TNT Sports through the dedicated mobile streaming app. However, watching BT Sport via television still requires a paid subscription.

BT Wi-Fi

Subscribers to BT Mobile have unlimited access to BT Wi-Fi, regardless of the data allowance in their contracts. Connection to BT Wi-Fi can be made through a web browser or the dedicated BT Wi-Fi application.

BT Mobile App

The BT Mobile app allows subscribers to keep on top of their contract allowance, allowing them to see their minutes, texts and remaining data allowance. The app also shows out-of-contract spending, details of the subscribers' contract and information on data roaming.

Services

Network

BT Mobile offers 4G as standard to all customers at no extra cost and in order to benefit from 4G speeds, a 4G-ready phone is required. However, customers in areas with no 4G coverage or without a 4G-ready phone will still be able to connect via the 3G and 2G networks.

Coverage

As BT Mobile uses the EE network, its 4G network reaches more than 95% of the UK population while its 3G network reaches 98% and 2G network reaches 99%, .

Extra Speed 4G

On 3 February 2016, BT announced a new add-on service called Extra Speed 4G for BT Mobile customers, allowing them to access even faster upload and download speeds than standard 4G, provided they are in an Extra Speed 4G area. The speeds can reach a maximum of up to 60 Mbit/s and the service costs £4 a month and is a 30-day rolling contract, which means customers won't be tied in for 12 months. The speed will vary on a day-to-day basis and depends on various things such as coverage, distance from the mast, the number of people using the network and the type of 4G phone you have, as well as whether you're indoors or in a densely populated area.

Wi-Fi calling

BT introduced

Wi-Fi Calling Wi-Fi calling, also called VoWiFi, refers to mobile phone voice calls and data that are made over IP networks using Wi-Fi, instead of the cell towers provided by cellular networks. Using this feature, compatible handsets are able to route r ...

on 29 March 2018, which allows customers to use

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

to call and text in areas with poor or no signal, and will come out of their monthly minutes and texts allowance or at the normal network rate, with no extra charge. It works on any

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

handset from iPhone 5S onwards and certain

Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...

handsets bought from BT Mobile. For existing customers, BT's 'My BT' and BT Mobile app offer the ability to check phone compatibility. The phone's software must be updated to take benefit of the service, minimum iOS 11.3 or later for Apple handsets.

4G calling

BT introduced 4G calling (

VoLTE Voice over Long-Term Evolution (acronym VoLTE) is an LTE high-speed wireless communication standard for voice calls and SMS using mobile phones and data terminals. VoLTE has up to three times more voice and data capacity than older 3G UMTS an ...

) on 29 March 2018, which allows customers to make calls over 4G and can continue to use 4G data as they talk. It works on any

handset from

iPhone 6 The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are smartphones that were developed and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the eighth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, and were announced on September 9, 2014, and rel ...

onwards and certain

Voicemail

BT Mobile automatically diverts all unanswered calls to

voicemail A voicemail system (also known as voice message or voice bank) is a computer-based system that allows callers to leave a recorded message when the recipient has been unable (or unwilling) to answer the phone. Calls may be directed to voicemail m ...

. Customers will receive a text from BT when a voicemail is left. It uses the same voicemail code (

1571 Year 1571 ( MDLXXI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 11 – The Austrian nobility are granted freedom of religion. * January 23 – The Royal Exchange opens in Lond ...

) as BT's fixed lines.

Parental controls

BT Mobile offers free

parental controls Parental controls are features which may be included in digital television services, computers and video games, mobile devices and software to assist parents in their ability to restrict certain content viewable by their children. This may be c ...

to limit what a user can access via the internet such as blocking inappropriate content.

Brand transition to EE

In April 2022,

announced plans to turn the EE brand which BT acquired in January 2016, into their main “flagship brand” for their consumer Business. As part of this plan, BT mobile stopped accepting new customers in October 2023, with BT mobile products gradually being withdrawn over this period. Existing customers must transfer to EE to start a new contract, but active customers outside of contract remain on the BT mobile brand at time of writing. The brand will remain operational for business customers.

References

External links

BT Mobile Official Website
{{UK mobile phone companies Mobile virtual network operators BT Group