Lyca Mobile launches 5G – but with a surprising omission

Yet another UK network has launched a 5G service and this time it’s Lyca Mobile, which has switched 5G on across all of its plans at no extra cost.

The network offers 5G coverage in all the same places as O2, which means parts of at least 194 towns and cities at the time of writing. That’s a good number, and coverage is improving all the time, though in many places it will be patchy currently.

However, while this is mostly a very accessible upgrade – since it’s free and comes as part of every plan – you’ll still need a compatible handset, and oddly that doesn’t just mean a 5G phone, as for some reason you can’t currently use Lyca Mobile 5G on any iPhone.

That’s despite the fact that both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 ranges support 5G, and it’s an unusual situation – not only is this not a limitation on other networks, but if anything iPhones tend to get network features ahead of Android phones. For example, features like Wi-Fi Calling, 4G Calling and visual voicemail are more likely to work on an iPhone than an Android phone (though the specifics vary from network to network).

A temporary situation

However, hopefully iPhone owners won’t be left out for long, as Lyca Mobile claims that it’s working to remedy this.

That oddity aside, Lyca Mobile could be a tempting 5G network for some users, as it offers competitively priced plans (some of which include unlimited data) and doesn’t tie you in to long contracts. It also offers inclusive international minutes on many plans.

So if you’re regularly calling abroad then Lyca Mobile could be a great network choice, and with the addition of 5G it’s even better than it was before.