Lidl could soon be cutting more than just your grocery bill. The budget supermarket chain has announced it will be launching its own mobile service, with shoppers able to buy low-cost, contract-free plans that could massively undercut the main four mobile network providers.
Partnering with mobile network operator 1Global, Lidl’s yet unnamed mobile network service will run as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), meaning it will piggyback on existing networks, similar to Smarty Mobile or iD Mobile.
Reserved for those with a Lidl Plus loyalty membership, customers will be able to purchase an esim plan inside the Lidl Plus app when the mobile network launches in the future.
“We are democratising mobile communications," said Julian Beer, Lidl International’s executive vice president of purchasing. "In doing so, we are setting new standards and making affordable mobile communications easier than ever for our customers. By integrating state-of-the-art technology, we can meet the needs of millions of customers for uncomplicated connectivity for their devices."
The supermarket chain already operates an existing piggyback mobile network called Lidl Connect in Germany, which launched in 2015 and expanded to Austria and Switzerland in 2019. Lidl Connect offers pre-paid plans on Vodafone’s infrastructure in Germany; Drei in Austria and Salt Mobile in Switzerland.
According to research from CCS Insight, the four major mobile network providers (EE, O2, Vodafone and Three) have been losing market dominance every year, with customers switching to cheaper piggyback networks like Smarty and iD Mobile. The company expects MVNOs to hold 25 per cent of the market by 2029, with Lidl’s announcement shaking things up even further.
The best sim-only MVNO deals
If you’re with a major mobile network right now and seeing your bill go up every year, piggyback MVNO providers offer some of the cheapest prices on rolling sim-only plans. Here are selection of the best deals:
- Smarty: £10 per month for 80GB of data
- Giffgaff: £15 per month for 150GB of data
- id Mobile: £12 per month for 150GB of data
- Voxi: £15 per month for 140GB of data
- Lebara: £5 per month for 5GB of data
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