Tesco Mobile charges for every call from the UK to a number abroad. None of it comes out of your monthly allowance, there is no international bundle to buy, and the price depends on which of four calling zones the country sits in. A minute to France costs 19p. A minute to the USA, India or Australia costs £1. Canada and Bangladesh cost £1.49.
The Tesco Mobile prices in this guide come from Tesco Mobile's price list for Q2 2026 and its calling another country help page, both checked 3 October 2026. The international rates are the same on pay monthly and pay as you go.
What Tesco Mobile charges to call abroad from the UK
Tesco groups countries into zones. Within each zone, one rate covers landlines and mobiles alike.
| Zone | Countries include | Per minute | Per text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 0 | The 48 Home From Home destinations: France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the EU, plus Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Gibraltar and the Channel Islands | 19p | 6p |
| Zone 1 | USA, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, the Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong, South Africa, Jamaica, Turkey, the UAE | £1.00 | 20p |
| Zone 2 | Canada, Mexico, Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Nepal, Israel, Kuwait | £1.49 | 20p |
| Zone 3 | Remote territories such as the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue and North Korea | £2.00 | 20p |
Canada costs more than the USA, because Tesco puts it in Zone 2. The rate is also the same for a landline or a mobile, so £1 a minute applies whether you ring a landline in Delhi or a mobile in Lahore.
Calls are billed by the second after a minimum charge per call: 10p to Zone 0 and 27p to Zones 1, 2 and 3, according to the price list. In practice:
- A 20-minute call to a mobile in India costs £20.
- A 30-minute call to a landline in the USA costs £30.
- A 10-minute call to Canada costs £14.90.
- A 30-minute call to Poland costs £5.70.
Is there an international calling add-on?
Not one we could find. Earlier versions of this guide described a Tesco Mobile international add-on covering 36 countries. Neither the Q2 2026 price list nor Tesco Mobile's international help pages list one today, so every minute is billed at the zone rate. On pay monthly, a zero bill cap or safety buffer, set in the Tesco Mobile app, limits how much you can spend on top of your plan.
Using your Tesco Mobile phone abroad
Roaming is a separate set of charges from calling abroad. Which one applies depends on where your phone is when you make the call, not on the number you dial.
Home From Home: 48 destinations at no extra cost
In Tesco Mobile's 48 Home From Home destinations (the EU plus Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Gibraltar, Jersey, Guernsey and a few others), your UK minutes, texts and data work as they do at home, on pay monthly and pay as you go. That covers calls to UK numbers and to numbers in any other Home From Home destination. Once the allowance runs out, you pay the same standard rates as in the UK.
It does not cover calls from those countries to the rest of the world. Ringing India from a beach in Spain costs £1.49 a minute, and ringing the USA costs 69p.
Home From Home is meant for UK residents on trips. Tesco Mobile's fair use policy looks at a rolling four-month period. If you spend more than two months of it in Home From Home destinations, Tesco texts you, gives you two weeks to change the pattern, and then adds a data surcharge. Minutes and texts carry no surcharge.
Outside Home From Home
Everywhere else, you pay per minute, per text and per megabyte, and you also pay to receive calls. The price list splits the rest of the world into three roaming regions:
| Where you are | Call the UK (per min) | Receive a call (per min) | Data (per MB) |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa (Region 3) | 89p | 89p | 1p |
| Turkey, Northern Cyprus (Region 2) | 69p | 69p | £5.00 |
| Most other countries, including India, Pakistan, Nigeria, the UAE, Japan and Thailand (Region 4) | £1.49 | £1.49 | £5.00 |
Texts from any of these regions cost 40p, and listening to voicemail costs the same per minute as a call home. The data rate is the one to watch: 1p per MB in the USA, but £5 per MB in India or Dubai. Set a cap or turn data roaming off before you land in a Region 2 or Region 4 country.
Cheaper ways to call abroad
At 19p a minute, Tesco Mobile is fine for a short call to Europe. Further afield, at £1 or £1.49 a minute, a calling app that rings ordinary phone numbers over the internet costs much less.
CallSky is our product, so weigh the comparison with that in mind. It calls landlines and mobiles in 180+ countries over Wi-Fi or mobile data, with pay-as-you-go credit and no subscription. CallSky charges in US dollars; the rates below are as of .
| Destination | Tesco Mobile (per min) | CallSky (per min) |
|---|---|---|
| USA | £1.00 | $0.03/min |
| Canada | £1.49 | $0.03/min |
| Australia | £1.00 | $0.05/min |
| India | £1.00 | $0.09/min |
| Pakistan | £1.00 | $0.29/min |
| Bangladesh | £1.49 | $0.11/min |
| Nigeria | £1.00 | $0.44/min |
| France | 19p | $0.04/min |
| Poland | 19p | $0.06/min |
The same app works when you travel. On hotel Wi-Fi in Delhi, a 20-minute call to a UK mobile costs $0.80 with CallSky, against £29.80 at Tesco Mobile's Region 4 roaming rate, because a Wi-Fi call never touches the roaming network.
Free apps such as WhatsApp work too, as long as the person you're calling has the same app and a data connection. A calling app covers everyone else, including landlines and anyone who never installed the app. For a wider comparison, see our guide to apps for cheap international calls, or how Three UK and EE price the same calls.
Frequently asked questions about Tesco international calls
Are international calls included in my Tesco Mobile allowance?
No. Your allowance covers calls to UK mobiles and to UK landlines starting 01, 02 or 03, plus calls between Home From Home destinations while you are in one. Calls from the UK to a number abroad are charged separately at the zone rate: 19p a minute to Europe and £1 or more to the rest of the world.
Does Tesco Mobile have an international calling add-on?
Not one we could find. Tesco Mobile's Q2 2026 price list and its international help pages show per-minute zone rates only (checked 3 October 2026).
How much does it cost to call the USA from the UK on Tesco Mobile?
£1 a minute to a landline or a mobile, and 20p per text. Calls are billed by the second after a 27p minimum charge.
What happens if I use my phone outside the Home From Home destinations?
You pay roaming rates for every call, text and megabyte, including calls you receive. In the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, calls cost 89p a minute and data costs 1p per MB. In most other countries, calls cost £1.49 a minute and data costs £5 per MB.
CallSky is our product. It calls 180+ countries on pay-as-you-go credit that never expires, with no subscription.