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The products or services listed have been independently tested by our journalists. We earn a commission from the affiliate links in this article. Read more >
Three has recently merged with Vodafone, appropriately reducing the number of major mobile networks in the UK to only three. For the time being, however, Three and Vodafone are still running as separate entities selling different tariffs, so we’re going to treat them as two different networks for this review.
Three does have one interesting feature compared to the other mobile networks we tested. It’s the only major provider to offer 5G home broadband, meaning you don’t need to have traditional “fixed-line” broadband installed. I won’t focus on that too heavily here, but if you’re a student who often moves or your landlord won’t permit the installation of fibre broadband (it’s annoyingly common), then it might be an option.
In our survey, Three was middle of the pack, with its strongest hand being reliability. Its weak spot? 5G coverage. According to regulator Ofcom’s latest figures, it’s a long way behind rivals such as EE, although the big tech merger with Vodafone could resolve that issue. Both companies likely held off investing in their 5G networks until the outcome of the merger was clear.
Some of Three’s best deals might disappear when the merger is complete, so let’s explore if there are bargains to be had now.
We surveyed 1,022 Telegraph readers across the UK* to find out who provided their mobile network and what they thought about the service. Readers provided their verdicts for the three master brands (EE, O2 and VodafoneThree), as well as virtual networks (MVNOs): Tesco Mobile, Lebara, Sky Mobile, BT Mobile and Giffgaff.
We excluded any provider used by fewer than 20 per cent of our readers. In addition, we categorised providers with an average rating of three stars or lower as “below average”.
As well as speed, reliability, value for money and ease of contact, we asked our readers how helpful their providers were once they got through to them, as well as their experiences using data roaming while abroad.
Score: 4/5
Three has always tended to be at the cheaper end of the scale among the major phone networks, and the customers we surveyed seem to be in agreement. Three’s value satisfaction score of 78 per cent is better than O2, Vodafone and EE, although it’s a distance behind our award-winning virtual networks: Tesco Mobile, Lebara and Giffgaff.
At the time of writing, Three was offering a cut-price deal which made its 60GB per month plan as cheap as its 1GB plan, albeit the 60GB deal is for two years instead of one, with annual price increases included.
The £25 per month unlimited data deal is also at the cheaper end of the scale, especially compared to its major network rivals. The 5G Home Broadband deals start from £23 per month for unlimited data, too, which isnicely competitive.
Three also offers data-only SIMs, which you can use in laptops or tablets that don’t need to make phone calls or send texts, starting from only £9 per month.
Score: 3.5/5
The speeds on offer from Three are largely fine, with almost three-quarters of the customers we surveyed saying they were satisfied with the network’s performance.
A paucity of 5G coverage might be holding it back. Regulator Ofcom’s latest report pegs Three’s outdoor 5G coverage at between 39 per cent and 71 per cent of premises, which is a wide margin that’s poorer than that of EE (86-89 per cent) and O2 (70-76 per cent).
Score: 4/5
Three customers are largely satisfied with the network’s reliability, with 83 per cent giving it the thumbs up. Data coverage was the weak spot here, with only 64 per cent satisfied. That probably reflects what we noted above about the lack of 5G coverage, although the merger with Vodafone should help rectify that.
Score: 3.5/5
Three’s customer service was the best rated of all the major networks, according to the customers we surveyed. Just over three-quarters (76 per cent) are happy with the ease with which they can get through to support, and 74 per cent are happy with the quality of the support.
Score: 3/5
Roaming isn’t a given on all of Three’s plans. The cheapest ‘Lite’ plans don’t include roaming, for example, and you must pay £2 a day to unlock your allowances in Europe, and up to £7 a day in other destinations. If roaming is important to you, then it’s probably best to look at the more expensive ‘Value’ and ‘Complete’ plans.
This approach probably explains why only 57 per cent of Three customers in our survey said they were satisfied with the roaming value they’re receiving.
(Note: this is just a sample of the SIM-only deals available from Three)
Yes, if:
No, if:
The Research Method
*Online survey of adult Telegraph readers conducted on The Telegraph Contributors Panel, 27th November - 11th December 2025, conducted by Strat7 Researchbods. Survey sample: 1,022 total respondents. Respondents consisted of:
Providers with fewer than 40 respondents were excluded from the individual analysis as their sample sizes were not significant.
Respondents rated their mobile network providers across 13 key attributes using a 10-point scale. These individual ratings were then aggregated to produce an overall performance score based on our proprietary benchmark.
The key attributes evaluated were:
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