Lycamobile changing from being an O2 MVNO to an EE MVNO?

simon_or

Aargh, this explains it. My service has been down since yesterday and it's almost impossible to get a straight answer from their CS. They sent me one text which my phone marked as spam so I missed it.

I guess their customer base is pretty agile so they didn't want to spook anyone into leaving. A bit underhand though given that a change from O2 to EE could be massively disruptive depending on where you live so customers should have been given clear advance notice so they could switch to a different provider if need be in a timely manner.

Hopefully it'll come back up soon. In the meantime I've to check if EE works for me where I live.

MSE_Clare

No-frills mobile operator Lycamobile has surprisingly started switching customers from O2’s network – which it piggybacked on – to EE’s, seemingly without telling them ahead of time. It comes after the company quietly signed a deal with BT Wholesale on Monday, meaning it will now piggyback off EE's mobile network. 

Read the full story:

Lycamobile has started switching customers from the O2 network to EE's - here's what you need to know

If you haven't already, join the forum to reply.

TobyJugg2

Looks like you also need to set roaming on for data to work now. If roaming isnt on it says you have moved from your home network aka o2 -.EE

Rather disconcerting - if i actually end up 'roaming they will charge me... but service doesn't work with it off.

ah - just thought - this will be because they haven't sent out an updated profiles configuration message - numpties

Add to that

*Message at 2:30 AM while fast asleep - 'in 10 days your xxx will be renewed

* Message at 2:30 AM while fast asleep - in 5 days your xxx will be renewed

* Message(s) plural just after midnight when it is renewed

* Message saying your bundle threshold has been reached and it will be auto-renewed when you have only used small amounts - seems to actually mean its your auto renew date.

Auto topup seems to keep resetting itself to ON in your account no matter how many times you switch it off and save

(auto topup rather than auto renew)

Utterly useless CS

Oh - and a message telling you to set up your account as soon as you sign up saying congrats - go and set up your online account via this link - which doesn't work despite seeming to be just a messed up link to the website - and you cant set up an account until you receive the sim anyway.

If it was more than a quid a month I'd cancel.

Service with o2 was reasonable, but def a 'second son/poor brother' to a real O2 service (I have an o2 payg for my historic number)

but heyho - its very very cheap thanks to the mse deal - and its in a backup phone

I wouldnt consider paying full price for this, and would have cancelled if it wasnt pennies, and anyone who moves their main number to these muppets would seem to be risking it.

TobyJugg2

Hers an extra thought - anyone with phones locked to o2 - wont work

TobyJugg2

and just testing it for data performance ..For me (may well be different for you depending where you are)

Lyca-EE is Significantly Inferior to the Lyca-O2 performance. Lyca-O2 was better than idmobile (3) and only a little off the lebara performance here. Now Lyca-EE is the weakest by quite a large margin (all 4g data streaming tests)

savergrant

MSE_Clare said:

No-frills mobile operator Lycamobile has surprisingly started switching customers from O2’s network – which it piggybacked on – to EE’s, seemingly without telling them ahead of time.

Or indeed at all. Just a vague communication about service upgrades, nothing about connecting to a different network.
After someone reported their lyca sim was connecting to ee I checked mine and found the options were lyca, vodafone, o2, and 3 meaning lyca was ee.

savergrant

Sadly I don't think this week has helped lyca's reputation much at all. Whilst they could argue that moving to ee will help them deliver improved services, clearly many users will be negatively impacted by losing o2 signal strength. Whilst it may not be contractual that you can receive a signal it certainly helps!

HampshireH

How do I actually see on my phone which network it is picking up?

Have an android oppo phone and cannot find any reference to any network in my settings except lycamobile as an over arching provider

savergrant

HampshireH said:

How do I actually see on my phone which network it is picking up?

Have an android oppo phone and cannot find any reference to any network in my settings except lycamobile as an over arching provider

On mine it is in connections; mobile networks; network operators; turn off auto and you get a list of available networks. Lyca is now instead of ee on mine whereas before ee-uk was on the list but o2 wasn't. As mine is dual sim with rwg if I check the other slot I get the same list but now instead of lycamobile. When i had a lebara sim in lebara appeared but vodafone didn't.

tinker411

PHK said:

tinker411 said:

Neil49 said:

tinker411 said:

PHK said:

It’s a little bit annoying, my main SIM is EE, I chose Lyca for a second SIM because on occasion there was O2 coverage (only 3G) when EE is congested. Plus Lyca did an eSIM which made it easy. 

I live in a holiday town and on days when a lot of holidaymakers arrive, EE gets a bit congested as too many people try to make calls. Three is even worse as it’s congested nearly all the time and Vodafone have patchy coverage. So it looks like I’ll have to try another O2 MVNO. 

Edit: Still don’t understand why Lyca haven’t publicised this significant change. 

I agree it's a bit odd that they've barely publicised this changeover - maybe they're trying to reduce the "I don't want to change over/why haven't I changed over" calls/live chats to customer service? I don't know. Wonder how long it'll take for Wi-Fi calling and VoLTE to arrive (probably another question they're looking to avoid, at least for now).

Slightly different setup here - I'm also in a holiday town, and here Vodafone are hopeless (their masts are saturated) while O2 are a bit better (as they've added 5G) but when holidaymakers descend they both grind to a halt. Three are congested, but with the depth of coverage they're holding up and should continue to until 5G arrives, then there's EE who are fine. 

My main mobile sim is iD mobile. Have been looking for an EE MVNO as backup for when out and about too (I've got EE, well 1p Mobile, in a mobile router at home), doable without eSIM but with would be better (as it'd be in one handset then). Lyca doing eSIM was so easy when they released it, for me shame it was on O2 due to the above, now it's on EE though it warrants a fresh look.

Both RWG and Nowmobile piggyback off EE but neither offer an esim. They do however have some good deals. Double check re availability of WiFi calling (I don't think so) and roaming. 

Yeah, they do, RWG's £5pm bundle for 5GB and unlimited calls and texts has been looking pretty tempting, but they're still without WiFi calling and VoLTE at this time (along with no eSIM) which is why I'm hesitating.

Looks like Lyca are doing 6GB and unlimited calls and texts for about the same per month though, with eSIM, but (it appears) no WiFi calling and VoLTE. Will give it a little while to make sure it's on EE from the off rather than O2 though.

Just be warned, their customer service is absolutely dreadful. I’ve not needed to contact them until this unannounced change and it’s been an awful experience. Two agents have disconnected from their live chat, the phone isn’t answered and emails go un-acknowledged. 

Yes, I've dealt with Lyca customer service before and you're right - it's an 'interesting' experience to say the least.

That being said, while I wouldn't move a main number to them any time soon, they're not the worst I've had to deal with before, and when I did need to contact them it was invariably about network issues (being on O2 at the time) which shouldn't be so much of an issue now they're on EE.