Three announce 30GB mobile tariffs

That's the cost of the 12-month SIM-only deal, which comes with all-you-can-eat texts and 200 minutes of calls; other SIM-only plans offering more minutes or on one-month terms are also available.

Three have also made at least one 30GB plan available with each of the handsets they sell, although customers will find themselves tied into a 24-month contract should they wish to buy a phone at the same time.

The introduction of the 30GB plans also sees the return of much more generous terms and conditions regarding tethering for customers signing up to a new unlimited data plan.

Credit: William Barton/Shutterstock.com

The 30GB plans

All of Three's mobile plans now come with unlimited texts, with no fair use policy to speak of. That means the difference between the three 30GB SIM-only plans comes down to the number of minutes included with each deal, and the length of the contract we sign up for.

With a standard 12-month contract, the plans are priced like this:

Being Three, and being SIM-only, the above plans are also offered on one-month contract terms - which cost £3 more a month:

The 30GB tariff is also available to people looking to get a new phone along with all that data.

Prices start from £33 a month for the cheapest handset - the Huawei Y3 - on a 24-month contract with all-you-can-eat minutes and texts as well as that 30GB of data.

To get one of the latest top of the range phones on the same tariff and contract terms will obviously cost more:

Increased hotspot allowances

Three are keen to point out that anyone buying one of the 30GB deals are free to use all of that data for browsing with their phone or to set up a personal wi-fi hotspot.

And the new larger data limit has seen Three increase the tethering allowance for new All-you-can-eat data customers too.

Previously people signing up for an All-you-can-eat data deal were limited in how much of their unlimited GBs they could use for tethering, based on when they took out their contract.

Between July 2014 and August 2015, they could only use 4GB of their unlimited data each month for tethering.

Customers signing a contract between August and November last year would have been able to use 8GB to create a personal hotspot each month; from November that went up to 12GB a month.

With the introduction of the 30GB tariff, however, the personal hotspot limit for new All-you-can-eat data customers has been raised to match.

Of course, while it's good news for new customers, this could be deeply frustrating for anyone who got their unlimited data deal more than eight months ago - as they'll have to live with a tethering allowance that's seven and a half times smaller.