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Customers of mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media), specifically those with the ‘Switch Up‘ service on their plan that gives you the flexibility to swap your Smartphone after 90 days (without having to pay off your contract), have recently been informed that the operator will shortly extend this period to 11 months.
The change wasn’t mentioned to us when we queried last week’s somewhat controversial change to O2’s annual price rise policy (here and here), but customers with the add-on did later receive the following notification as part of that price change: “On 22 January 2026, O2 Switch Up will be changing from a 90-day cycle to an 11-month cycle. This means you can switch to a new device every 11 months.”
In fairness, the old 90-day period, which is currently still being widely advertised on O2’s website despite the impending change, always seemed to be an economically challenging feature to deliver and one that many customers probably wouldn’t use within such a short period of time (although a fair few do). On the other hand, changing the period to 11 months does make it more akin to just being an annual contract.
As we understand it from O2’s community agent (here), the change means that if, for example, somebody Switches Up their device tomorrow (1st November 2025) then, as the 90-day rule will still apply, they’d be able to Switch Up again on 1st February 2026. But after that last switch, the period would be changed to 11 months. Credits to forum member meritez for spotting this change (here).
A spokesperson for O2 told ISPreview:
“We’re continuing to offer Switch Up, allowing eligible O2 customers to ‘switch up’ every 11 months instead of every 90 days. This aligns more closely with how the majority of customers are already using Switch Up, and will help to reduce the number of minimally used handsets in circulation, supporting our sustainability goals.”