EE revises SIM only tariffs; 10GB plan is back, but at a price…

EE has today announced a series of revised SIM-only tariffs, including both 30-day and 12-month contracts.

The key change is that the 10GB plan is now back, but at a slightly higher cost than the last time we saw it on offer. However, two plans can be picked up for a discount of £1 per month if you sign up between June 17th and July 28th.

Another change is that double speed 4G is now available only on the 4GB plans or above, instead of 2GB previously. That means you’ll need to shell out for more data if you want to enjoy speeds in excess of 30Mbps (the level at which single speed 4G access is capped).

It all seems a little odd given that Vodafone will let you have 20GB of data for £30 a month, with the first three months having no data limits at all, and service offerings from BT Mobile and iD Mobile can also get you 20GB of data for £20-25 a month.

Edit: Thanks to a comment via Twitter, I must also add that The People’s Operator is offering a staggering 31GB of data for just £19.99 a month on a 30-day SIM-only contract, including unlimited calls and texts. It piggybacks on EE’s network but currently offers 3G access only (but with DC-HSPA that could still mean speeds of 20-30Mbps). I’ve not used the network so can’t vouch for it, but it certainly looks like a great deal.

EE will no doubt argue that it offers unrivalled 4G coverage, which is perhaps undeniable, but it seems it comes at a premium.

Another thing to note is that EE states no free calls to 080 numbers on the two ‘entry level’ plans, although the notes in the new price plan document (download the PDF here) states that you get a maximum of 1000 minutes to any individual freephone number in a month. After that, you’ll be charged the standard call charge of 40p per minute.

It’s not clear how or why the tariff table states no 080 access on two tariffs, given the changes implemented by Ofcom that is supposedly meant to see ALL freephone calls become free from mobiles, starting July 1st 2015.

The changes to the double speed access also leaves EE in a rather bizarre situation where you can still get 2GB of double speed data on PAYG for just £15 a month, or 2GB of single speed only data on SIM-only for £16.99 a month (12-month) or £19.99 a month (30-day). The latter tariffs do include more minutes, but it’s still more than a little confusing.

Presumably EE plans to make some changes to other tariffs in due course to fix some of these anomalies. Hopefully we might see some higher data allowances on mobile broadband? Please EE, how about it?