An honest, sourced and dated side-by-side of UK consumer mobile networks. Headline price, contract length, mid-contract hikes, security on the SIM, roaming. We've highlighted Boundless - every other cell is a public fact, not a sales line.
Data as of April 2026. Operator names referenced nominatively.
Every figure traces to a public operator price page or an Ofcom report. Citations are at the foot of this page.
Snapshot from April 2026. Refreshed quarterly with every change timestamped.
Same tier across operators (single-SIM unlimited 5G). If a figure isn't published, we say so - we don't guess.
Scroll horizontally on smaller screens. The Boundless column is highlighted in violet; competitor columns are rendered neutrally.
Headline pricing for an unlimited single SIM.
| Criterion | UsBoundless | EE | O2 | Vodafone | Three | Sky Mobile | Smarty | Giffgaff | iD Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Headline unlimited 5G price (single SIM) | £18/mo | £40/mo[11] | £35/mo[12] | £32/mo[13] | £24/mo[14] | £25/mo[15] | £20/mo[16] | £20/mo[17] | £20/mo[18] |
Contract length | 12-month rolling | 24 months[11] | 24 months[12] | 24 months[13] | 24 months[14] | 24–36 months[15] | 1 month[16] | 1 month[17] | 12–24 months[18] |
Mid-contract price hike policy | CPI only, no margin | CPI + 3.9%[11] | RPI[12] | CPI + 3.9%[13] | CPI + 3.9%[14] | CPI[15] | None - monthly[16] | None - monthly[17] | CPI + 3.9%[18] |
Inclusive roaming countries | 100+ | 48[11] | 75[12] | 80+[13] | 71[14] | 36[15] | 36 (EU only)[16] | 36 (EU only)[17] | 50[18] |
What's protecting your number, calls and texts.
| Criterion | UsBoundless | EE | O2 | Vodafone | Three | Sky Mobile | Smarty | Giffgaff | iD Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hardware-rooted SIM security Stops SIM-swap fraud at the silicon level. | |||||||||
Anti-fraud SS7 firewall (default) | |||||||||
UK + EU sovereign network | |||||||||
One app for security, billing, family controls |
The small things that actually matter.
| Criterion | UsBoundless | EE | O2 | Vodafone | Three | Sky Mobile | Smarty | Giffgaff | iD Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genuinely unlimited 5G with no fair-use throttle | |||||||||
Data gifting between SIMs on the same plan | |||||||||
UK-based human support, 7 days |
What others do
Most UK consumer networks are owned at group level by international holding companies - your number lives under their jurisdiction.
What we do
Boundless runs on Mobifon, a sovereign UK + EU core. Your calls, texts and metadata stay in UK + EU jurisdiction by design.
What others do
Other consumer SIMs are off-the-shelf chips with no on-SIM security. Anti-fraud lives only on the network side.
What we do
Abel is hardware-rooted on every Boundless SIM. SIM-swap fraud, IMSI catchers and bogus SMS prompts are blocked at the silicon, not after the fact.
What others do
Standard UK consumer telco hikes are CPI + 3.9%, every year, mid-contract - that's 3–5% on top of inflation.
What we do
One adjustment a year, on your anniversary, capped at the published UK CPI rate. We don't add anything on top.
What others do
Most consumer roaming bundles cover 36–50 destinations with throttling outside the EU.
What we do
100+ countries included on every plan, no throttling, same speed as home.
What others do
MVNOs ride a single host network. If that host goes down, you go down.
What we do
Mobifon multi-MNO routing means your SIM picks the strongest signal. Outages on one network don't take you off-air.
What others do
Most operators split billing, family controls, security and roaming across separate apps and websites.
What we do
One Boundless app - your bill, your security alerts, your family controls, your roaming switches, all in one place.
Comparison data sourced from publicly available operator pricing pages and Ofcom market reports as of April 2026. Operator names are referenced nominatively for honest comparison under the UK Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008. Trademarks belong to their respective owners. We make no claim of affiliation, endorsement, or partnership with any operator named on this page. Where a competitor figure could not be verified from a public source we render "Not published" rather than estimate.
Single, Couples or Family. 12-month rolling term. Index-linked, never inflated. Roaming in 100+ countries on every plan.
