Call forwarding: UK mobile networks that support it and costs

All of the four main UK networks support it

Usually it’s the main UK networks that first introduce features, so it’s no shock that they all let you forward incoming calls to another number. But some only offer it on select plans, so let’s go over them:

EE support call forwarding on any pay monthly phone or SIM only contract. But you can’t use it on their Pay As You Go monthly bundles. Forwarding to other UK numbers will come out of your allowance (unlimited).

Vodafone also let you forward incoming calls to another number on pay monthly SIM only or phone contracts. But you can only divert calls to voicemail on PAYG. You can use call forwarding on Basics plans, however.

Three are the only main network that support call forwarding on both pay monthly and pay as you go (we checked with a chat agent). Diverted calls come out of your allowance or at your normal minutely rate.

O2 have a similar scheme to Vodafone and EE. You can use call forwarding on pay monthly contracts (it comes out of your allowance) but it doesn’t on Pay As You Go (we confirmed this by calling them).

Their best current SIM only deals

A handful of smaller networks also include call forwarding

It’s not just the main UK networks that offer call forwarding, there are a good number of smaller providers that piggyback off the larger networks that support it.

iD Mobile, SMARTY and Honest Mobile are budget providers on Three’s network and claim to include it. SMARTY confirmed it on their site here and both iD and Honests’ agents said they include it on all plans.

On O2’s network, there's two lower cost options. giffgaff support call forwarding. And so do Sky Mobile. On both networks, the forwarded calls come out of your monthly allowances or are charged at normal PAYG rates.

The only network on Vodafone that we got call forwarding to work on was Talkmobile. It worked on our Android, but not our iPhone. Info on their site is scarce, and their agents didn’t give us a straight answer.

Talk Home Mobile are the only provider on EE’s network (except EE themselves) that support call forwarding. There’s nothing on their website that says this, but we confirmed with a chat agent that they have it.

Their best current SIM only offers

These networks tend to offer better value plans than the main four networks while also including call forwarding. Here are some of their best current deals:

Some virtual providers don’t include it as a feature

Virgin Mobile are the biggest provider that still don’t offer call forwarding. We tested it on our iPhone and Android and it didn’t work on either. And we confirmed with a chat agent that they don’t support it.

Tesco Mobile also don’t support call forwarding, which is something that they directly say in their terms and conditions. As such we didn't try to see if we could get it to work anyway.

VOXI also don’t have call forwarding, which is surprising considering they’re owned by Vodafone. Their chat agent claimed they don’t offer it (maybe due to Vodafone not offering it on their Pay As You Go scheme).

And the rest of the small pay as you go providers like 1pMobile, Lycamobile, Lebara, Co-op Mobile and ASDA Mobile don’t allow call forwarding either.

Their best current SIM only deals

You won’t get call forwarding on any of these networks. But they do offer some great value on SIM only: