About SMS & SMS charges

Discover everything you need to know about SMS messages on Pay as You Go and Pay Monthly contracts with iD Mobile. 

SMS stands for short message service and is one of the oldest and most widely used forms of text messaging today.  

While some messaging apps use the internet (known as OTT (Over the Top) applications), SMS uses your cellular network to transmit messages. These messages can be sent to anyone regardless of their mobile device or network, and without the need to have the same app downloaded to yours and your recipient’s phone. So, if you send a traditional text message directly from your phone, rather than via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or another internet-powered app, it’s considered an SMS.  

A text message that contains an image, video, audio, emojis or GIFs is called an MMS (multimedia message service) and is sent in the same way as a text-only SMS. 

All of our new iD Mobile Pay monthly plans come with unlimited minutes and texts, so with one of these, you can chat as much as you like! This means any text-only SMS messages you send to a UK number are included in your monthly payment at no additional cost.  

However, MMS messages aren’t included as part of your monthly allowance of texts, so every time you send one, you will be charged our out-of-plan rate of 30p per MMS message. 

With an iD Mobile Pay As You Go SIM, you can choose to top up with credit or buy a value bundle. With Top-up credit you pay per minute, text and MB of data you use, while value bundles provide you with a set allowance of minutes, texts and mobile data that will last you one month (or until you use up your allowances).  

The Pay As You Go charge for sending an SMS to a UK number is 2p. An SMS is limited to 160 characters, so if you exceed this you will be charged for the number of individual texts your message length adds up to.  

SMS messages sent to an international number or sent while abroad will incur an additional cost. You can find out more about international calling and roaming charges on our page about the topic. Exceptions to this include our 50 inclusive EU roaming countries, which you can learn more about on our EU Mobile Roaming page. While in these countries, you will be charged the same rate for SMS messages as in the UK. 

One of the benefits of purchasing one of our Pay As You Go value bundles is that they offer unlimited minutes and texts within the UK, so you can send as many SMSs as you like in that month.  

You can easily buy bundles using your iD Mobile app or My Account online. These can be bought as and when you need them, or on a recurring basis that will renew automatically when your previous one expires. Some of our value bundles are as follows: 

If you choose to go down the Top-up credit route, each SMS you send will be charged separately. More information about pricing can be found on our Pay As You Go Charges page. Below are the rates for texts, calls and data on Pay As You Go: 

 An SMS shortcode is a five or six-digit abbreviated phone number that an SMS message can be sent to. These are often used by businesses for marketing, booking or security purposes, such as sending discounts, booking confirmations or one-time passwords.  

Unfortunately, SMS messages sent to short code numbers may incur a premium rate charge that’s not included in value bundles or pay monthly plans, so there will be an additional charge for each SMS sent.  

If you’re having trouble with SMS messages not sending from your iD Mobile device, first, restart your device and try resending the message. If this doesn’t work, please contact us via our live chat and we’ll be able to help you resolve the issue.  

Sometimes, when you send an SMS and receive a “send failed” message, the recipient may receive multiple versions of the same text message. This happens when you’re in an area with bad coverage; the initial SMS will fail, but your network will continue to attempt to send the message. This will continue to happen even after you receive the “send failure” message. Once a good network coverage has been re-established, the message will automatically send.  

If you have any issues or queries that you’d like to contact us about, you can chat to us and one of our helpful agents will be there to assist. Our Live Chat team are available 9am-8pm Monday to Friday, and 9am-6pm Saturday and Sunday. However, these times may change during public holidays.    

You can also get 24/7 help and support via our iD community page, where you can browse helpful articles and talk to other iD Mobile customers.