O2 Essential Plan: Affordable 5G for eligible UK residents has launched

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Mobile network operator O2 has today introduced a new ‘Essential’ 4G and 5G mobile plan designed to assist UK residents facing financial hardship.

The Essential Plan offers 10GB of data, unlimited calls, and texts for a monthly fee of just £10. This low-cost option is exclusively available to individuals receiving eligible state benefits and can be utilised by both new and existing O2 customers.

The plan comes with a 30-day rolling contract, no activation or exit fees, and a guarantee of no price increases while customers remain eligible for benefits. Additionally, the Essential Plan includes EU roaming and access to the O2 Priority rewards program.

How to qualify for O2 Essential?

To qualify for the Essential Plan, customers must be in receipt of Income-based Employment Support Allowance, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income Support, Pension Credit, or Universal Credit.  

This announcement complements Virgin Media’s existing Essential Broadband tariff, providing internet access for £12.50 per month to those on state benefits.

Christian Hindennach, Chief Commercial Officer at Virgin Media O2, said:

“Virgin Media O2 is proud to offer a range of comprehensive measures to help people on low incomes to get online and stay in touch with loved ones.

“While we know mobile connectivity in the UK is already very affordable, the launch of the O2 Essential Plan builds on our wide range of existing support for people experiencing financial difficulties. This includes our broadband plan for people receiving support payments, the National Databank providing free mobile data for people in need, and our Community Calling scheme which rehomes smartphones with people who need them.”

However, it’s worth noting that cheaper mobile plans, often with larger data allowances, are available on the market from providers such as iD Mobile, Smarty, and VOXI — not to mention free eSIM options that offer free roaming. Some of the offers from cheap network providers like Lebara offer much more data than 10GB for the same price or less.

So is this simply a marketing ploy from O2 to gain more customers on lower incomes? The O2 Priority rewards program does include some decent offers, so will be seen as reason to switch over.

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