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 handset.

Those contracts still exist, of course, and can be useful for a lot of people who want to minimise the fuss or up-front 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 free 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 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 generally 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 up-front cost of purchasing a new SIM-free smartphone handset can prove prohibitive for many - particularly if you want to buy one of the current generation of flagship handsets. The iPhone 7 and Google Pixel start from £600, for example, while the Samsung Galaxy S8 starts from £689.

With a standard contract, the impact of that cost is spread over 24 months, which is a major benefit that you can’t benefit from 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 month SIM-only contracts instead, requiring you to go into one of its stores to sign up for a monthly alternative.

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 certainly the most enthusiastic supplier of one month rolling contracts.

It features an impressive 22 different contract options, split loosely between those that come with a personal hotspot or tethering allowance and free roaming around the world in 60 countries  (an Advanced plan) and those with neither a personal hotspot or tethering allowance and with EU romaing in 48 coutries (an Essential plan).