Mobile network operator Three UK has finally confirmed to ISPreview that they’ve withdrawn their old ‘Data Reward’ Pay As You Go (PAYG) plan for existing customers, which previously pledged that those who had already registered for it before 23rd May 2022 would “continue to receive … 200MB [of data] every month for life.”
As we’ve always said, consumers would be well advised NEVER to put their faith in “lifetime” style service or promotional pledges like this, as we’ve yet to see any mobile or broadband operators maintain such a commitment for more than a few years. Needless to say, we’ve seen quite a few of these come and go over the years, but they often end up being little more than paper tigers.
The latest example of this is Three UK’s original Data Reward SIM, which is a SIM card that came with 200MB (MegaBytes) of free mobile broadband data each month and was designed for use in iPads, tablets etc. But in order to get this you needed to buy a mobile SIM that came preloaded with data (e.g. £10 for 1GB preloaded, valid for 30 days), although after the initial purchase you never strictly needed to top up again to get the free data.
Admittedly, an allowance of 200MB wouldn’t get you very far today, but it did have its uses for basic or occasional communications. The offer finally came to an end for new customers in May 2022, although Three UK had pledged to maintain it for existing customers “for life“.
Data Reward Pay As You Go Info. Page
On 3 February 2016, we introduced Data Reward Pay As You Go plans to join our existing Pay As You Go tariff. Data Reward customers who registered before 23 May 2022 at Three.co.uk/freedata were eligible to receive 200MB data free every month.
From 23 May 2022, we removed our Free 200MB offer from MBB PAYG Data Reward plans and no longer accept any new registrations.
Note: Customers who have registered already will continue to receive the 200MB every month for life and the following information is still applicable.
However, over the past few months’ we’ve seen the operator’s support staff make a variety of different claims about the status of the service (example), and some of ISPreview’s readers (here) recently asked us to investigate.
A Spokesperson for Three UK told ISPreview:
“Due to changes in our IT system, we are no longer able to offer customers our 200MB Data Reward Plan. We’re sorry to the customers impacted and are in the process of contacting them about their options.”
As it turns out, Three UK’s definition of “for life” is rather short, unless you happen to be a Mayfly or its aquatic larvae, that is.