Mobiles

Millions of O2, Three and Virgin Mobile customers will be hit with price hikes of up to 11.7% this spring on the back of a sharp increase in the cost of living. The announcement comes just days after Sky confirmed it would be hiking prices by an average £43 a year (if you're affected, see our Sky-specific help on whether you can beat the hikes).

Tens of thousands of Three mobile users are set to lose a perk that allows them to roam at no extra cost in 71 countries. MoneySavingExpert.com can reveal that the mobile operator is 'forcing' certain customers to sign up to new plans, which means they'll lose their 'free' roaming benefit. It's a U-turn from Three, which had said it would keep inclusive roaming for those on older contracts.

Mobile phone users are likely to be burning through cash if they pay more than £10 a month on their bill, MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis has warned in the latest episode of The Martin Lewis Money Show. You can watch Martin explain it below, plus use our key links - Cheap Sim Finder tool, Cheap Mobiles tool and our Cheap Mobile Phone Insurance guide - to help you cut costs.

Tesco Mobile customers will be charged more than double what they currently pay if they exceed their pay-monthly calls allowance from 9 February. Meanwhile, charges for out-of-bundle services, such as to send picture messages and to make international calls, will also rise for both pay-monthly and pay-as-you-go (PAYG) users.

Newly merged O2 and Virgin Media have launched a new product called Volt, allowing eligible customers to get their mobile data allowances doubled and their broadband speeds boosted to the next level at no extra charge. To get it, you need to have Virgin broadband and an O2 mobile contract. While decent for existing customers, for most it's not worth switching to the firms just for the perks – we've full analysis below. 

Thousands of Three customers were unable to make or receive calls on Thursday morning, although the mobile network provider said the problem had been resolved by lunchtime. The outages took place across England, Scotland and Wales, the telecoms provider said.

Thousands of 1pMobile users who signed up to the pay-as-you-go provider before 1 January 2021 will need to spend at least £2.50 worth of credit on calls, texts, data or other services every 30 days from today. Fail to meet this spending limit, and you'll have a fee of up to £2.50 deducted from your credit.

Three is to start charging new and upgrading pay monthly and Sim-only customers roaming fees of £2/day to use their monthly allowances in Europe from 23 May 2022. In addition, the mobile provider will ditch a core deal that allowed many customers to use their inclusive minutes, texts and data in 22 non-European destinations and instead charge customers £5/day.

Tech giant Apple has just unveiled its new handset range, the iPhone 13, 13 Mini, 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, while cutting the price of the now-older iPhone 12, 11 and SE. Buying a new iPhone is never MoneySaving and early adopters usually pay the most. We've got some tips on how to cut costs below.

Three mobile customers who make calls or send text messages outside of their standard allowance will see prices hiked from 1 July. Some pay-as-you-go costs are also rising. But mobile users who regularly use these services can cancel contracts penalty-free as a result.