What is data rollover and which networks offer it?

High-profile horror stories of customers receiving huge, unexpected bills for going over their data allowance have made us all wary of using more data than we’ve paid for. It's led many consumers to opt for a more generous data package than they need in the hope of saving money.

According to research from Sky, however, rather than saving us money, this is actually costing customers an average of £50 every year.

So what’s the answer to this? Well, the first thing to do is work out how much data you need and check your usage with your network.

If you regularly pay for more than you use but are concerned about opting for less data in case you go over your limit, a plan that includes data rollover might be a good solution for you.

What is data rollover?

Simply put, networks offering data rollover allow you to take unused data from one month and use it the following month.

So, for example, if you have a 3GB monthly allowance, but you only used 2GB in a previous month, the remaining 1GB will be rolled over into the next month, giving you a new allowance of 4GB for the next 30 days.

This gives you the option of saving data, so you can give yourself a bit of leeway if you’re concerned about going over, or you can save up if you know you'll be using more data than normal the following month.

Which networks offer data rollover?

Not all networks offer data rollover, and those that do have different variations of the offer.

Read on, and we’ll tell you which networks offer data rollover and exactly how each network lets you save your data.

Sky Mobile

In terms of data rollover, Sky Mobile offers, by far, the best deal.

While some major networks, such as O2 and Virgin Media, let you roll over any unused data at the end of the month, you can only rollover data from the previous month. This prevents you from stockpiling a huge trove of unused data for a rainy day.

With Sky Mobile, however, you can roll over any unused data at the end of each month and store it in an online ‘piggybank’. That data will be there whenever you want to use it for up to three years at no extra cost, so any data you pay for is yours to keep.

On top of this, families on Sky Mobile can pool all of their data together into one piggybank and share it whenever a family member needs a bit of a top-up.

iD Mobile

iD Mobile was the first network to offer a free data rollover service, available to new and existing iD customers on 12-month, 24-month and one-month SIM-only GoTo plans.

At the end of the month, you can roll over any unused data you have left and use it the following month. There is no limit to the amount of data you can rollover. However, you can only use rolled-over data from the previous month, so you can’t stockpile endless data.

Still, because last month’s rolled-over data is used first, before your monthly allotted amount, any data left at the month’s end can then be rolled over again.

O2

O2 offers data rollover on its pay-as-you-go rolling contracts. Its pay monthly plans operate on a use-it-or-lose-it basis.

Virgin Mobile

Virgin Mobile automatically rolls over any unused data at the end of the month so that you can use it the following month for no additional charge.

The rolled-over data will then be used first. And only after it’s been used up will you start using your regular monthly allowance.

In contrast to similar rollover schemes, such as FreedomPop’s, there’s no charge for rolling over data. There’s no limit to the amount you can rollover from one month to another.

However, you can only rollover data from the previous month, so you can’t stockpile months and months of unused data.

Vodafone

Vodafone offers data rollover on the Big Value bundle for its Pay As You Go customers.

Like other networks, Vodafone only lets you roll over data from the previous month, which prevents you from saving up endless data.

To roll over data, customers need to top up to renew their Vodafone Big Value bundle within 30 days, and any unused data will roll over into the next 30 days.