ASDA Mobile UK Hike PAYG Prices and Limit Data for EU Roaming
The mobile division of supermarket giant ASDA has begun notifying customers of a huge price hike to their Pay As You Go (PAYG) services, while also revealing that they will slash the amount of inclusive data (mobile broadband) that you can use while roaming within the EU from 25GB (GigaBytes) to just 5GB per bundle!
The changes, which are due to be introduced from 26th September 2022, will increase the charges on their PAYG plans to 15p a minute (up from 4p), 10p a text (up from 4p) and 10p per MegaByte of data (up from 4p). Put another way, the price of calling somebody in the UK is going up by 275%! One tiny consolation is that they’re “making it free to call voicemail from your ASDA mobile” (currently 4p per min). Yay.
As for EU roaming, the operator states that “our European roaming cap for in-bundle usage is also reducing from 25GB to 5GB from this date (regardless of bundle allowance).” At present, this only seems to apply to new and existing customers who take their PAYG bundles, as the same notice does not appear on the product pages for their monthly SIM-only plans, yet. Credits to one of our readers (Steve) for spotting this change.
Important information
All revised rates for Asda mobile customers will come into effect from 26th September 2022.
If you wish to continue using our services, you don’t need to take any further action; prices will update automatically on your account.
However, if you wish to cancel your Asda mobile account, call us on 2732 free of charge, contact us via the Contact Us page or simply stop topping up your phone.
If you choose not to remain an Asda mobile customer, you may be eligible for a refund of credit. All requests for refunds must be made between 26th July and 26th October.
To request a refund, please complete the form below or alternatively, if you prefer, please contact our Customer Service team on 2732 and a colleague can support your request over the phone.
However, the move should not come as much of a surprise, which is because ASDA Mobile is powered by a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) agreement with Vodafone, and they’ve already reintroduced EU roaming charges (here). Likewise, we’ve seen a lot of mobile operators moving to make PAYG plans more unattractive for consumers, which tends to catch up with MVNO providers eventually.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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Another benefit of Brexit. I am with O2 only because of their EU data roaming.
Perhaps one for the loyalty penalty thread, but this is why I’ve not changed my EE contract for a cheaper one.
I get the choice of current slightly more expensive contract with free EU roaming or a new contract with lower cost but then I need to pay roaming fees. So overall paying slightly more per month is better for me.
I got stitched up by EE last year when they forced me into a new one month contract or lose the free roaming. They gave me notice they were moving me to a new monthly tariff which would take effect after they stopped free roaming, so only option was to move to new 1 year contract within days of the message to keep free roaming. Did consider moving to O2 but the coverage has always been terrible round here.
Lebara mobile just sent out a notice that they’re keeping their EU roaming allowance at 30 GB.
The Brexit bonuses never stop do they? I suppose we can file this mess alongside food rotting in the fields and gridlock at Dover.
TBF the EU didn’t cap domestic rates which is where the real pain will be felt with these increases.
Mobile users with low usage are being forced into a monthly bundle otherwise they will be screwed if they remain on the increased PAYG rates. Like with prepay electric, if you do not have a good enough credit score to be on a standard credit meter you end up paying higher rates on a prepay basis just to power your home. There seems to be a screw the poor approach with many companies.
The Brexcultists grunt “IT’S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH BREXIT!” whilst chewing on their booby-prize “winnings”, pretending the foul ashen muck dribbling down their chins is exactly what they voted for.
Idiot
@YOU VOTED TO HARM YOURSELVES AND THE UK!
There are no greater idiots than those who voted to impose economic sanctions upon their own country AND still think it was worth it… ::facepalm::
Look, it was all about controlling those boats coming from France, but now they’re still coming and we have to send over the navy to help rescue those people and taxi them here and then allow them to make application to see if they qualify…
So the short-sightedness is just mad, and how goes that Rwanda situation…? Not even a single economic migrant been sent there but millions spent building hotel-like place to live.
Now the folk with rightwing ideas thinking we need to get rid of the human rights, then we can deport all the illegals… good luck, it might happen years later… at the mean time just look at the hotel costs. But this isn’t political site it’s a telecommunications news site, so its probably not the best of place discussing these sorts of things, not to mention people are probably fed up debating this.
1pMobile is still offering 1p/min/text.
1p mobile are absolutely terrible! Got my 12 year old daughter one and they took all the money and cancelled the SIM because she “Didn’t use it enough”in the space of about 6 weeks – Let’s be honest, the only people using PAYG are VERY light users or people who just need a backup.
@Claire
You have to top up 1pmobile £10 every 120 days to keep it active. So, yes not suitable for extremely low users.
Price hike to their Pay As You Go service, what has that got to do with Brexit? If the price hike is for normal use in our own country then that is nothing to do with brexit.
The data limited for roaming is, but it is still a con, after a\ll most of the networks in this country also have networks in other countries. Not Asda as they are a VMN, so they piggyback on another network. but Providers like Vodafone, O2, EE and three all have networks in other countries, so charging more for roaming is a just bull and a con, for them to make even more profit.
Best thing is if you go abroad, buy a sim in that country and use that.
It didn’t take too long for a Brexcultist to chant their favourite mantra “it’s nothing to do with Brexit”…
Try not to choke on your ‘winnings’ come ashes!
@WE KNOW WHAT WE VOTED FOR!
Looking at the article, the price rise of pay as you go is for use in this country, so how can that have anything to do with Brexit unless the article is written badly? The data limit for roaming, yes, that may be. But providers are just greedy and using Brexit as an excuse.
It doesn’t bother me as I doubt I will go abroad again and if I did, I would, as I said above, get a sim from the country I am in and use that. What do people do when they go to countries that are not in the E.U?
We are out of the E.U, the sooner realise it the better, instead of just gong and on about it, because it will not change the fact.
@Ad47uk:
Perhaps the issue is your reading and comprehension? No-one else seems to be struggling grasping the article.
We are out of the EU, rather than pretending everything is fine and/or everyone else’s fault, perhaps you lot could try taking ownership of the chaos and harm Brexcultists have inflicted upon the UK.
It’s not going to get any better… maybe after 15 or so years of living with with this mess all but the most delusional Brexcuslsts will have developed buyer’s remorse, enabling us to start to making progress to re-join and rebuild our international standing.
Until then we are all going to have to live with your lots dreadful decision.
@WE KNOW WHAT WE VOTED FOR!
Read this from the article.
The mobile division of supermarket giant ASDA has begun notifying customers of a huge price hike to their Pay As You Go (PAYG) services, while also revealing that they will slash the amount of inclusive data (mobile broadband) that you can use while roaming within the EU from 25GB (GigaBytes) to just 5GB per bundle!
So the first part say that they will have a price hike to their PAYG services, what has that got to do with Brexit? That is the normal UK service, a lot of providers want to get rid of PAYG and stick people onto a contract. PAYG will rise on many other providers to chuck people onto a contract. I use Smarty myself, a sim only monthly contract.
The second part says about roaming and that people will get less for their money and as I said yes that may be to do with Brexit, but more to do with providers being greedy.
As for Brexit, maybe if some of the people who are moaning ab out it got off their backside and voted, the results may have been different, but nope, they sat on their backside because they thought we would never vote to leave the E.U. Guess what, We did.
It is done, dusted, what we need to do now is live with it, sort out the mess the Tories are causing. We still need to work with the E.U and other countries, just a shame the Tories don’t see that.
What is being angry about it going to solve? Even Labour said they will not be looking at rejoining the E.U if they got into power and even if they did, it would take years, and we would have to accept stuff like the Euro and other opt-outs we had.
I am not pretending everything is fine, how can it be? We were part of the E.U for a long time, it will take a while to get it sorted out,, but as I said, our government have not helped.
I votred to get out of the E.U and I would do it again as I don’t want to be part of a united states of Europe.
@Ad47uk:
We are out… but it’s far from ‘done and dusted’. It’s a festering open wound which will plague the UK and hamper its every move at least until the late 2030s, when we’ll hopefully start serious progress to re-joining, assuming Northern Ireland and Scotland haven’t left and there is still a UK.
Of course Labour cannot say that we are going to re-join in the immediate future, the issue is too toxic and entrenched dafties like yourself still believe it was the right decisions even though you know it’s harmful. Labour knows it cannot be reopened for at least a couple election cycles.
Yes, we should all zip it and just accept the increasing ongoing harm and even more chaos.. like complaint little plebs… ::facepalm::
“United States of Europe”… Good grief!… Thanks for admitting that you had absolutely ZERO idea what you voted for. ::DOUBLE-facepalm::
“I don’t want to be part of a united states of Europe.”
Ha ha ha ha. Talk about being brainwashed….
@WE KNOW WHAT WE VOTED FOR!
It is a united states of Europe, a currency, free movement, an anthem, a central government, looks at the countries as States, not countries. Oh don’t foget the flag.
Looks like a united States of Europe to me.
Should have just stayed as a trading block.
You can carry on in dreamland if you want, dreaming that the U.K will rejoin the E.U, it is not going to happen and who is to say that the E.U will want us back and if the U.K would agree to what the E.U would want us to do, no doubt they would want us to have the Euro and Schengen.
what we now need to do is get rid of that tunnel.
^^^Someone who’s clearly been taken in by the UKIP spouted propaganda. Anyway enjoy the Brexit ‘benefits’.
i am laughing at those idiots who voted for brexit and selfservatives in 2019 hahaha
you voted for to become poorer and rip off roaming charges.
You are saying 52% that’s 15.1 million people voted BREXIT are idiots?
@Anuraj:
It was 17.4 million people, a number the so-called “Brexiteers” never ceased to quote.
Voting to become poorer and less free is a pretty stupid thing to do, voting to “get it done” (which is isn’t and never will be) in 2019 only compounds it.
I would say this is more likley Coronovirus tax than Brexit tax. Or as Joe Biden says for literally anything “Putin’s price hike”. When Three put their prices up a fortnight ago. I suggested Asda or 1pmobile to relative. They picked 1pmobile. I am so pleased now they did. I highly doubt they’d put their prices up. Given they have webdomanins and all sorts under 1p mobile.
Given roaming charges were literally illegal while a member of the EU and would have remained so had the UK remained in the EEA that’s a pretty big stretch.
There are many issues the cause of which may be debated and for sure leaving the EU has been blamed by some for things unrelated but that’s not one of them.
If we really must go political in the comments here let’s keep it factual.
1pMobile probably not going to be rising prices anytime soon, the company that owns 1p is Utility Warehouse so should be fine.
I bet most of the complaints about EU roaming will come from people who rarely go abroad (may be for a couple of weeks a year).
I bet you believed the absolute BS that Brexit would save the UK and its citizens money, no doubt cut red tape too!
Now we are poorer, weaker, far more isolated, have fewer freedoms, our word is worthless, our politics has become a banana republic pantomime and we’re just about to have a robot installed as our new ‘Dear Leader’… the FOURTH PM in what 6 or 7 years… absolute insanity!
Whose fault is it that it turned out to be a steaming pile of dog poop today?.. The remoaners, maybe the dastardly French or is it the EU meanies bullying us because they’re jealous of our sovereignty? ::facepalm::
I voted Brexit, I don’t holiday in the EU and yes I’m laughing at all you sad, pathetic remainiacs…..if you’re that concerned about roaming charges, do us a favour and sling your hook to one of your precious EU states or shut the f%ck up!
> sling your hook to one of your precious EU states
If only there was some kind of freedom of movement within the EU to enable us to do so.
You know, the freedom of movement we had before Brexit…
There is! Get on a rubber boat and just turn up in France, Germany, Sweden, Italy….they don’t care who comes in, so you’ll be fine!
@Bob
The roaming charges are just the latest in the very long and continually growing list of Brexit costs, harms and failures.
People who think Brexit is a stupid and harmful idea cannot simply sling their hooks to an EU country, as you and your fellow silly billies took that right from your fellow Brits.
It’s a great tragedy that those who wanted to leave the EU didn’t do so by packing their bag and leaving the UK before 2016, rather than dragging us all out with you.
If your precious Brexit was going well you’d be crowing its successes from the rooftops, yet you want to have everyone shut the f%ck up about it.
Keep clinging on to your unicorn infested sunlit uplands fantasies, the benefits are just over the horizon. It would be genuinely hilarious if it were not actually so sad and pathetic.
Why should the majority of us had to leave? We won! You can leave at anytime AND if the EU is SO GOOD, they will accept you with open arms, or maybe it’s just terrorists they accept. Either way, you’ll be in good company….bye!
” shut the f%ck up” I didn’t realise freedom of speech had been taken away by Brexit as well, but there we are. The trouble with your sort is that you cannot tolerate any dissent about your religious cult of Brexit.
“Your sort”. It’s mainly because we’ve had enough of listening to cretins like you!
You drone on and on and on about the downsides to Brexit. We’ve been through a global pandemic, on the verge of a global financial meltdown and Russia and China are bringing the world closer than ever to a World War, and guess what?
We are still not in the dire situation you remainiacs predicted, even after all that!!! LOL But go on, keep banging on about your precious Roaming Charges….It’s “your sort” that are deluded!
“listening to cretins like you” charming I must say, but it sums up Brexiteers all too well. They have no worthwhile arguments, so they resort to foul-mouthed abuse.
Farage was off getting German passports for his kids.
Many other Brexiteers that have dual nationality have rushed off to get EU passports.
Wonder why?
“They have no worthwhile arguments, so they resort to foul-mouthed abuse”
You need to get out more if you consider “Cretins” foul-mouthed abuse LOL
No comeback regarding the end of the world, yet we are still standing? No of course not, you deluded cretin!
@Rick the Dick
You absolute melon, the majority of the UK vote to leave the EU having been members for less than 50 years and having been taken advantage of by them for most of that time.
brexit is a disaster always will be turkeys voting for xmas haha mugs who voted to become poorer. Love it.
The biggest Brexit benefit for me as a smoker is the return of duty free. I’m back and forth regularly to Ireland with Ryanair and each trip I get a carton of 200 Silk Cut for €40 (£34) – an absolute bargain! I’m happy to trade roaming charges for cheap ciggies.
A Brexiter hastening his death? We may have actually found a genuine Brexit benefit! HOORAY!
Cheaper poison and quicker death… great benefits…
On a serious note, please try to quit before it’s too late.
Try the NHS stop smoking service and I’d recommend visiting a hospice and speaking to final stage lung cancer sufferers, they’d love to help anyone from suffering a similar fate.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking/nhs-stop-smoking-services-help-you-quit/
Roaming was never “free” just the cost of it was paid by everyone whether they used it or not.
So you’re saying your mobile operator is charging you less now that they aren’t forced to offer free EU roaming?
RWG Mobile This is probably the best deal for really light users. Just pay £5 then you’re good to go every month. EE coverage and there’s no need to be in Wales or even Welsh 😉
https://www.rwgmobile.wales/rates-plans-eng-per/
This discussion is supposed to be about alternatives to ASDA Mobile after their prices go up.
Please stop talking about Brexit. It’s happened whether people like it or not and things are unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.
Yes, enough with the political trolling all. Further posts like that will be removed.