BT Mobile set for return as Monzo and Lidl crowd UK market
Key Points
- BT will relaunch BT Mobile as a virtual operator in summer 2026, reversing a 2023 decision to retire the brand
- UK MVNOs now account for 19.7% of mobile connections, up from 14.9% in 2021, per CCS Insight
- VodafoneThree completed its £15bn merger in May 2025 and is now the UK's largest network with 27 million customers
- Monzo, Revolut, Klarna and Lidl are all entering the UK MVNO market, with Revolut pricing at £12.50 a month
- BT chief executive Allison Kirkby faces pressure from 25% shareholder Sunil Bharti Mittal and a new Ofcom investigation opened on 30 April 2026
BT will revive its BT Mobile brand this summer alongside a multi-million pound advertising campaign, returning to a virtual operator market that has swelled to 19.7% of UK mobile connections and now counts Monzo, Revolut, Klarna and Lidl among incoming entrants.
The Telegraph reports that the relaunch will reverse a 2023 decision under former chief executive Philip Jansen to retire BT Mobile and focus consumer marketing on EE, with current chief executive Allison Kirkby instead betting that the 180-year-old BT name still carries weight with British households.
The move also coincides with intensified competition from VodafoneThree, the £15 billion merged operator that overtook EE last year with around 27 million customers against EE’s 25 million.
The MVNO surge has changed the shape of the UK mobile market in under five years.
CCS Insight figures show virtual operators accounted for 19.7% of mobile connections at the end of 2024, up from 14.9% at the end of 2021.
Mordor Intelligence valued the UK MVNO market at £4 billion in 2025 and forecasts annual growth of 7.32 per cent to 2030, outpacing the wider mobile market.
Tesco Mobile alone reported revenue above £1 billion in 2024 and counts roughly six million UK customers, making it one of Europe’s largest virtual operators.
A market reshaped by VodafoneThree and the fintechs
The £15 billion Vodafone and Three merger was completed on 31 May 2025, creating VodafoneThree with around 27 million customers and pushing EE into second place.
VodafoneThree has committed £11 billion of UK network investment over a decade and Opensignal projects 5G coverage uplifts of up to 92% for legacy Vodafone users once integration completes.
That changes the wholesale economics for virtual operators, with the merged group seeking new MVNO partners to fill capacity while EE and Virgin Media O2 still carry roughly 90% of MVNO traffic between them.
Fintech entrants have been the fastest movers. Revolut announced UK and Germany MVNO plans in April 2025, bundling unlimited calls, texts and 20GB of roaming for £12.50 a month, with the service riding on VodafoneThree via mobile platform Gigs.
Klarna launched in the United States in mid 2025 with the UK to follow, and Monzo confirmed it is in the early stages of building a digital SIM and contract product for its 13 million UK banking customers.
N26 launched an eSIM-based MVNO in Germany in May 2025 on Vodafone’s network.
Lidl owner Schwarz Group struck a deal with telecoms provider 1GLOBAL in April 2026, taking a 9.9%stake and licensing infrastructure to launch mobile services through the Lidl Plus app, which has more than 100 million users across Europe.
The retailer joins Tesco Mobile, Sky Mobile, Giffgaff, Lebara and Utility Warehouse in the UK virtual operator market, with analysts at Graystone Strategy suggesting Morrisons, Boots and the Co-op could follow.
How BT Mobile fits in
BT shut BT Mobile to new customers in 2023 under Jansen, who planned to phase out the BT brand entirely and lead with EE across mobile, broadband and consumer electronics.
Kirkby reversed that strategy on arrival in 2024, citing risks of alienating older customers, and has since cut thousands of jobs as part of a £3 billion cost reduction programme.
BT will mark its 180th anniversary with a Wembley Stadium event next week and a campaign by Uncommon agency under the slogan “brilliant things”, echoing the 1990s “It’s good to talk” advertising fronted by Bob Hoskins, the Telegraph reports.
The relaunch lands as Ofcom opened an investigation on 30 April into BT’s failure to provide complete information about EE and Plusnet broadband and landline customers in late 2023.
BT received the most Ofcom complaints for broadband and landline in 2016, though scores have since improved after call centres returned to the UK.
| Operator type | Brand | UK customers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Network owner | VodafoneThree | ~27 million | UK’s largest after May 2025 merger, £11bn investment plan |
| Network owner | EE (BT Group) | ~25 million | Second largest, retains lead on 4G reliability per RootMetrics |
| Network owner | Virgin Media O2 | ~23 million | Carries large share of MVNO traffic |
| MVNO | Tesco Mobile | ~6 million | £1bn+ revenue in 2024, runs on VirginMediaO2 |
| MVNO (incoming) | BT Mobile | New | Relaunch summer 2026, expected on EE network |
| MVNO (incoming) | Monzo | TBC | 13 million UK banking customers, digital SIM in development |
| MVNO (incoming) | Revolut | TBC | £12.50/month plan with 20GB roaming, on VodafoneThree |
| MVNO (incoming) | Lidl | TBC | Schwarz Group via 1GLOBAL, retail loyalty integration |
