Tesco Mobile Review:
The Best Network for the frugal
Published 01/08/2017
Tesco Mobile entered the Irish market in 2007 making it the second MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) to piggyback on another network's existing infrastructure in Ireland. Tesco Mobile is now the oldest MVNO that remains operating in Ireland today. 10 years since its launch, Tesco Mobile has managed to become Ireland's largest MVNO and fourth largest network behind Meteor (now Eir). Tesco Mobile has the unique advantage of reaching customers through Tesco's supermarket stores throughout Ireland. The network is synonymous with providing cheap international calls and large texts allowances at low prices. Initially piggybacking on Telefónica's O2 network, Tesco Mobile's customers were then shifted onto the 3 network following a merger with O2 in 2015.
Coverage, Speed & Quality
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Piggybacking on 3's 2G and 3G network, Tesco Mobile claims to have 99.6% population coverage in Ireland. However, Tesco Mobile's biggest weakness is the coverage and quality provided by its mobile network. Unlike other MVNO's such as iD Mobile and Virgin Mobile, who also piggyback on 3's network, Tesco Mobile has yet to activate 4G for its customers. This is a huge disadvantage that will likely turn many people off switching to Tesco Mobile. Customers are stuck with 3's atrocious 3G network to connect to the internet.
The issue of poor coverage on the 3 network is one that continues to annoy millions of customers. Don't expect to be able to connect to the internet in rural areas, even in some large towns. I've often experienced large swathes of land covered only by EDGE on 3's network. The same is true for cities where I've experienced frequent blackspot of little or no signal. To be fair, for calling and texting Tesco's network is relatively reliable but its quite the opposite for data. 3's claims of having a state of the art network are outright lies that are crafted to hide the fact that 3's network is years behind Eir's and Vodafone's. These coverage issues are only exacerbated by very poor data speeds. 3 has the slowest network in Ireland, and that's certainly noticeable when trying to load a video or download an app. Every action on my phone takes considerably longer than it would on Vodafone or Eir. I often had to wait over a minute for a video to load or a news feed to refresh. These issues are not acceptable on a modern day network when others such as Vodafone and Eir are already in the final stages of rolling out 4G. 3 should be ashamed of itself for providing its customers with a sub-par network that continues to lag behind its rivals. If you want to use your phone for data, I'd highly advise you to stay away from Tesco Mobile unless you happen to live in one of the few areas where coverage is actually good. These issues are unlikely to be fixed any time soon and 3's claims of being in the middle of 'The Big Upgrade' are just fabricated statements devised to deceive. |
Tesco Mobile piggybacks on 3's 2G and 3G network to provide coverage.
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Shown below is Tesco Mobile's Coverage map for 3G coverage in Ireland.
Purple indicates good 3G coverage while yellow indicates poor 3G coverage. White indicates NO coverage. 
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Pay as you Go: Plans & Pricing
Tesco Mobile has opted for a simplistic approach to pay as you go by offering only one plan. Tesco Mobile is now one of the only remaining mobile networks to provide 30 day pay as you go plans which Vodafone, Eir and 3 have all sneakily abandoned in favour of more lucrative 28 day plans. Tesco found itself in the middle of the roaming controversy recently as it announced it would follow 3 by ignoring EU rules to allow customers to use their domestic allowance abroad. Tesco Mobile has also admitted it is preparing to reintroduce roaming charges in Britain post Brexit, something that Vodafone and 3 have promised won't happen on their network.
Tesco's pay as you go plan costs €15 and provides customers with unlimited calls to anyone in Ireland and the in the EU. Ironically, this plan does not offer unlimited texts and instead limits customers to free texts only to other Tesco Mobile customers. Customers can try to enjoy 10GB of data on this plan, try because 3's network is terrible. I think Tesco should consider raising the data limit to 20GB and offer unlimited texts to be more competitive with similarly priced plans on other networks. As I mentioned above Tesco Mobile isn't honouring EU Roaming rules and is instead limiting customers to only 5.3GB of roaming data in the EU.
This certainly isn't the best value pay as you go plan out there and I think you'd be better off choosing iD Mobile's pay as you go plan which offers triple the amount of data and 4G speeds for the same price. I also think Lycamobile's €15 pay as you go plan is better value than the one offered by Tesco because it offers triple the data and unlimited calls and unlimited texts to any network in Ireland.
Tesco's pay as you go plan costs €15 and provides customers with unlimited calls to anyone in Ireland and the in the EU. Ironically, this plan does not offer unlimited texts and instead limits customers to free texts only to other Tesco Mobile customers. Customers can try to enjoy 10GB of data on this plan, try because 3's network is terrible. I think Tesco should consider raising the data limit to 20GB and offer unlimited texts to be more competitive with similarly priced plans on other networks. As I mentioned above Tesco Mobile isn't honouring EU Roaming rules and is instead limiting customers to only 5.3GB of roaming data in the EU.
This certainly isn't the best value pay as you go plan out there and I think you'd be better off choosing iD Mobile's pay as you go plan which offers triple the amount of data and 4G speeds for the same price. I also think Lycamobile's €15 pay as you go plan is better value than the one offered by Tesco because it offers triple the data and unlimited calls and unlimited texts to any network in Ireland.
Bill Pay Sim Only:
While Tesco Mobile's pay as you go plans are arguably unattractive to most people, their bill pay sim only plans are considerably better. They offer more calls, texts and data while managing to retain the benefits of having a 30 day flexible contract. For only €25 a month customers can enjoy unlimited calls and texts in Ireland and across the EU. For data, Tesco has allocated 15GB for customers, 5.3GB of which is usable in the EU. At the time of writing this review there is a 'limited time' offer available as shown below which offers 20GB of data instead of the above mentioned 15GB.
There is also a €10 monthly plan for those who are on a very tight budget or don't use their phone all that often. You get what you pay for with this plan. You're restricted to a measely 200MB of data, 100 minutes and 100 texts. Similar to Tesco's pay as you go plan, there is better options out there than the €25 plan mentioned above. For the same price, you could get unlimited everything on Virgin Mobile and also enjoy the benefits of gaining access to 3's 4G network.
There is also a €10 monthly plan for those who are on a very tight budget or don't use their phone all that often. You get what you pay for with this plan. You're restricted to a measely 200MB of data, 100 minutes and 100 texts. Similar to Tesco's pay as you go plan, there is better options out there than the €25 plan mentioned above. For the same price, you could get unlimited everything on Virgin Mobile and also enjoy the benefits of gaining access to 3's 4G network.
Bill Pay:
Tesco is currently offering four bill pay plans, each of which is targeted at different demo graphs. Bill pay plans have been gaining popularity recently as people shift to more expensive plans to subsidise the initial cost of their new expensive phone. However, as with all bill pay plans they do have some downsides. All of these plans lock you to Tesco's network for 24 months, which could be extremely disgruntling if you aren't happy with your service.
For just €10 monthly for 24 months customers can enjoy a measly 100 minutes and texts, along with 200MB of data. This plan is aimed at people who rarely use their phone or for those who don't have smartphones and use very little data. Paying €20 monthly for 24 months will get you 250 minutes and texts, in addition to a modest 5GB of data. This plan is for someone who has a smartphone but uses their data sparingly. Fork out €30 monyhtly for 24 months and customers can indulge in 15GB of data and spend 500 minutes calling whomever they wish. You also get 500 texts with this plan.
If 500 minutes and texts isn't enough, you can splash out €50 every month for two years and call and text to your heats content with unlimited minutes and texts. Unfortunately, paying a massive €50 every month will only get you 15GB of data. Once again, there are better options out there on other networks for bill pay. If you wanted more data, you'd be better off opting for 3's €30 bill pay plan which allows customers to use 60GB of 4G data. I'd also advise you take a look at Meteor's (Eir) €55 monthly plan which offers 15GB of data, none of which will be used up by social networks such as WhatsApp and Instagram. On this plan you also get unlimited calls and texts, and enjoy the benefits of having a much more reliable network.
Tesco is limiting plans with 15GB of data to just 5.3GB of roaming data in the EU. I wouldn't recommend these plans myself because they are very expensive considering you don't even get access to 4G. I'd advise anyone interested in any of these plans to shop around first because there is certainly better options out there.
For just €10 monthly for 24 months customers can enjoy a measly 100 minutes and texts, along with 200MB of data. This plan is aimed at people who rarely use their phone or for those who don't have smartphones and use very little data. Paying €20 monthly for 24 months will get you 250 minutes and texts, in addition to a modest 5GB of data. This plan is for someone who has a smartphone but uses their data sparingly. Fork out €30 monyhtly for 24 months and customers can indulge in 15GB of data and spend 500 minutes calling whomever they wish. You also get 500 texts with this plan.
If 500 minutes and texts isn't enough, you can splash out €50 every month for two years and call and text to your heats content with unlimited minutes and texts. Unfortunately, paying a massive €50 every month will only get you 15GB of data. Once again, there are better options out there on other networks for bill pay. If you wanted more data, you'd be better off opting for 3's €30 bill pay plan which allows customers to use 60GB of 4G data. I'd also advise you take a look at Meteor's (Eir) €55 monthly plan which offers 15GB of data, none of which will be used up by social networks such as WhatsApp and Instagram. On this plan you also get unlimited calls and texts, and enjoy the benefits of having a much more reliable network.
Tesco is limiting plans with 15GB of data to just 5.3GB of roaming data in the EU. I wouldn't recommend these plans myself because they are very expensive considering you don't even get access to 4G. I'd advise anyone interested in any of these plans to shop around first because there is certainly better options out there.
Device Selection:
A strong point of Tesco Mobile's bill pay service is its extensive range of smartphones. Tesco's selection of phones includes the biggest names in the business, including iPhones, Androids, Galaxy's and Huawei's so there's no shortage of choices. Below shows the devices currently available on Three's bill pay service.
Customer Care & other benefits
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Tesco has repeatedly touted it's network to be the most 'recommended' in Ireland. I disagree with that statement profoundly because ComReg has found Vodafone's network to have the highest customer satisfaction rate in the industry. Why would someone recommend a network anyway if it only had poor 3G coverage. That aside, Tesco Mobile's customers do benefit from a quality customer care team which is based in Waterford. It's nice to see networks refraining form outsourcing their customer care team outside of the country. You can contact Tesco Mobile for help via all the modern ways such as email, Twitter, phone and live chat.
There are some unique benefits of choosing Tesco Mobile. Every time you top up on one of their pay as you go plans you earn double club card points on Tesco's club card system. That's a very attractive addition to those who do their shopping in Tesco stores. Tesco Mobile is also notorious for providing inexpensive international calls. They've long advertised destinations such as Canada where customers can call for as little as one cent a minute. There's also the added convince of having Tesco Mobile stores situated within Tesco stores nationwide. |
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Verdict: Held back by the limits of 3's network
Tesco Mobile doesn't have the best pay as you go plans. It doesn't have the best bill pay or sim only plans either. There are better options out there for your money. It's a pity that Tesco Mobile piggybacks on 3's network because thats its biggest downfall. Coverage and speed is abysmal, even in some large towns. Vast swathes of the Irish landscape remain uncovered by 3's network. To make matters worse, Tesco Mobile is one of the only remaining Irish networks which has yet to provide 4G for its customers. But it has to be doing something right if it's the largest MVNO and fourth largest mobile network in Ireland. It's doing advertising right and it has one of the best customer care teams around. Customers are also benefiting from cheap international calls and the added convenience of having Tesco Mobile stores located within Tesco stores nationwide. If you see a plan that you like and it suits you're needs, go for it. But just be sure you're not stuck for two years on a network that has terrible coverage and speed in your area.
