With more than 16 million customers globally, Lyca Mobile is the largest mobile virtual network operator in the world. Launched in 2006, Lyca Mobile belongs to the Lyca Group of companies, along with its sister company, LycaTel.
Lyca Mobile attracts a new customer every two seconds, pioneering a new age in international telecom and connecting people from across the world at highly competitive prices. The company’s ethos centres on affordability combined with the power of connectivity, offering mobile phone plans to clients that come with exclusive benefits – such as high data and international calls – for an incredibly competitive price
This article will look at the increased need for low-cost mobile network operator services, with rising demand driven by factors such as the reintroduction of roaming charges amidst the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Research published by Lyca Mobile in August 2022 revealed that changes to roaming fees had become a considerable concern for mobile users in the UK, prompting consumers to vote with their feet, with many abandoning their current provider in favour of a better deal. According to Lyca, 44% of survey participants agreed that the reintroduction of roaming charges had led them to consider switching providers, with 36% saying that free roaming tariffs offered by providers outside of the UK’s four main operators would be a big enough incentive for them to make the switch.
The situation has been compounded by widespread public confusion surrounding the issue of roaming charges, with 51% of UK mobile contract customers admitting that they do not actually know whether their provider had reintroduced roaming charges or not. In fact, just 39% of mobile contract customers in the UK said they were confident in their understanding of how much roaming in the EU even costs.
Against the backdrop of soaring energy bills and rising inflation, UK consumers are increasingly seeking to keep household bills as low as possible. According to Lyca Mobile’s research, 65% of respondents cited the current cost of living crisis as the driving economic factor behind them reconsidering their phone contract. Giving that roaming fees could equate to an extra £100 on the cost of a fortnight’s holiday for a family of four in the EU, this concern is understandable. In reality, Lyca Mobile is one of the only UK operators to have opted out of the reintroduction of EU roaming charges, helping to drive down costs for customers already feeling the pinch from the cost of living crisis.
The UK’s big four mobile operators are EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three. With consumers seeking to bring down costs wherever they can, 65% of contract customers with these four companies reported that the cost of living crisis had caused them to reconsider their phone contract. 48% said they would actively seek out a new provider, with 35% reporting that they only stayed with their existing provider because it was too much hassle to switch.
As prices rise and inflation soars, loyalty to the UK’s big four mobile network operators is starting to wane, with more than 56% of customers coming to realise that they could probably find a better value deal elsewhere. Growing appetite for better value among contract customers is creating huge opportunities for alternative providers, such as Lyca.
