[2026-07-19 image ©honestmobile] I have been seeing lots of adverts of 'Honest Mobile' and indeed their competitors. This blog is a comment on the operation of these secondary SIM operators and not a criticism of any one of them.
I have my main SIM with Vodafone and use it for calls, text and data in the Uk and abroad. The latter I need to pay extra for. This is the case for most UK customers they are linked to a single UK operator. What happens if my operator cannot get a connection? I cannot make calls, send texts nor view data. What is annoying is if someone I am with is with another operator and can get a signal. Why cannot I swap to a different UK operator when mine ha no signal? There is no technical reason but there is a commercial decision and the UK operators do not allow internal UK roaming.
Now these secondary SIM operators have stepped in and when your SIM does not have a signal their SIM will link with another network for you and allow you data. This is however restricted to a number of Apps and does not include Internet Browsing nor Social Media nor Video Streaming but there is a wide range of other Apps available. I guess they have restricted Apps with a potential for very high data demand and anyway you could use WiFi for these purposes when it is available. The SIM they offer is a data-only SIM so no calls nor SMS.
Their main selling point is that they will provide, within the monthly or annual fee, international roaming which for many will be the trigger to get such a SIM.
Note that in addition to this secondary SIM they will provide a replacement SIM for your phone on the Three network as a Mobile Virtual Operator. They do claim a super fast 5G data service but in reality it is only as fast as Three, which is the fastest 5G network in the UK at present.
Perhaps there main selling point is their low prices and no in contract price increases.
Whilst I wish them well, for me, personally I do not see a great need for their service. The danger they have is that at any point their commercial advantage can be easily eroded by the Mobile operators or other Virtual Operators.