Rolling mobile contracts – What are they and should you sign up for one?

Rolling mobile contracts are ideal for those who don’t want to be tied down to a particular phone or package for a prolonged period of time. But what exactly are they? What are the benefits? And what sort of rolling contract packages do the UK’s big mobile operators have to offer?

What are rolling contracts?

It used to be that signing up for a mobile phone contract was a serious commitment that would lock you into a binding two year agreement. The monthly price you paid wouldn’t just cover your call plan, but also the cost of a smartphone.

Those contracts still exist, of course, and can be useful for a lot of people who want to minimise the fuss or upfront cost of their mobile contract. However, an increasingly popular alternative is a one month rolling contract.

As the name suggests, you’re only signing up for 30 days rather than 18 months or two years. These contracts are also SIM-only affairs, which means that you’re not subsidising the price of an expensive new phone over the span of a longer contract.

What are the benefits of a rolling mobile contract?

Signing up to a one month rolling contract has a number of benefits. For one thing, it leaves you free to chop and change between operators according to your needs. If you find a better price for the specific blend of data, calls and minutes that you need on a different operator, you only have to give 30 days' notice to make the switch for free.

In a similar vein, you can change operator in line with the shifting reception standards in your area. If an operator builds a new 4G or 5G tower in your territory or you move to a new area, for example, you’ll have the power to switch accordingly. It’s a great way to maximise the network performance of your smartphone.

Another major advantage of rolling contracts relates to the overall price you’ll pay. You tend to pay a lot less per month for such a contract than you would on a two-year offering, where the cost of a handset is typically built in.

Of course, this means that you need to supply your own smartphone for a rolling contract, but this can come from a previous full-length contract once it’s run its course. Even if you buy a new handset outright to accompany your new rolling contract, you’ll often find that the overall price you pay over two years is significantly less than that of an equivalent 24-month contract.

At the other end of the scale, if you’re the type of cutting edge user who likes to own the very latest smartphones, then having a rolling SIM-only contract enables you to chop and change the hardware side of things as often as you like.

What are the disadvantages of a rolling mobile contract?

The upfront cost of purchasing a new SIM-free smartphone can prove prohibitive for many - particularly if you want to buy one of the current-generation of flagship handsets.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra for example starts at £1,199 at the time of writing, while the iPhone 11 Pro Max starts at £1,149. These phones sit at the top of their ranges, so they’re more expensive than most, but even moving a step down you typically have to pay a lot.

With a standard contract, the impact of that cost is spread over 24 months, which is a major benefit that you can’t get with rolling contracts without resorting to a credit card.

Also, as we’ll go on to see in the next section, not all of the UK’s major networks seem keen to promote their one month rolling contract offerings. Indeed the UK’s biggest network, EE, aggressively pushes its 12 and 18-month SIM-only contracts instead, with 30-day plans comparatively hidden on its site, and lacking some of the extras that longer term plans can come with.

Indeed it’s often the case that network operators will reserve their best packages or bonus perks for extended contract subscribers.

Three's rolling mobile contracts

Of all the UK big four, Three is arguably the most enthusiastic supplier of one month rolling contracts, as it offers the same perks and maximum allowances as on its lengthy plans.

That said, at the time of writing it only offers four different 30-day plans, which is a lot less than it once did. Still, all of these are ‘Advanced’ plans, which come with Three’s Go Roam Around the World service (letting you roam in 71 destinations in Europe and beyond at no extra cost).

They also all come with 5G support at no extra cost, and with the ability to use your data as a personal hotspot (tethering). Plus, all rolling contracts with 12GB of data or more also include Go Binge, which lets you use Apple Music, Netflix, Deezer, Snapchat, SoundCloud and TVPlayer without it coming out of your data allowance. You can also get unlimited data on a Three rolling mobile contract.