Deciphering Mobile Phone Plans – What’s The Best Deal?

TIME TO REVISIT YOUR MOBILE PHONE PLAN?

Here’s what to look out for to ensure you get a good deal!

Last weeks newsletter edition on Choosing a new laptop received great feedback (Thank you for your emails!), so I thought I would shine some light on choosing the best mobile phone plan to suit your needs.

Choosing the best mobile phone plan is another hot topic that is regularly discussed with our clients. There are so many providers out there, and so many options.

How do you know who to pick?
What do the inclusions mean?
Prepaid or Post paid?

Lets break down the mumbo jumbo together!
Strap yourselves in… it’s a bit intense!!

A MOBILE PHONE PLAN TO SUIT YOUR NEEDS

It’s important to note that the first question I always ask clients is
“Are you looking for a new device, or will you be keeping your device and looking for a suitable phone plan”?

Choosing a new mobile phone or smart phone is a whole other topic which we can discuss in a future newsletter. For this newsletter, let us focus purely on plans.

For this example, I will share one of clients experiences.

Sandra has an iPhone that was given to her. She is not looking to upgrade her phone, but would like a new plan which suits her needs.
Sandra prefers to use the home phone to make calls, and only uses her mobile phone for SMS, Calls (when required if she is out and about), and Internet.

Sandra is currently on a monthly plan with Optus paying $19 per month (this plan no longer exists).

Her $19 Optus plan includes the following:

Up to 200 minutes of calls to Australian mobiles and landlines, calls to 13/1300 numbers
200MB of Data
10c standard nations SMS and MMS

Sandra feels like she has to be very careful when out and about so she does not accidentally use her mobile data. She would like more flexibility without having to pay too much more.

Which plan should Sandra pick?

PROVIDER

The Australian mobile phone scene is dominated by three major companies – Optus, Telstra and Vodaphone.
These three companies have spent billions of dollars to develop the country’s mobile and cellular networks. TPG is a player who is shaking things up by building Australia’s fourth mobile network.

These days, there are many smaller mobile phone providers, who use the network of one of these large companies by leasing their cellular network.

The benefit of these smaller companies is that you can get cheaper deals as they don’t spend as much on advertising and focus less on mobile phones, and more on SIM ONLY plans.

For example, if you choose KOGAN, BOOST or WOOLWORTHS Mobile, you will be part of the Telstra Network.

If you choose AMAYSIM, DODO or IINET, you will be part of the Optus Network.

Depending on where you live, or where you travel frequently, this may influence your decision when choosing a mobile provider.
For example, my personal mobile phone is on the Optus Network, but when I used to work on mine sites, I had to get a Telstra sim as there was no Optus coverage in the mining towns.

WHICH SHOULD SANDRA PICK?
For this scenario, Sandra is free to choose any provider as she lives in Metro Melbourne, and doesn’t travel to rural areas.

PREPAID OR POSTPAID?

This depends on how frequently you use your mobile phone.

If you rarely use your mobile phone, and its purely for emergencies, I would definitely go Prepaid. With Prepaid plans, some plans require you to recharge every month (or you lose your credit), or there are long life plans (up to 1 year before you need to recharge).

For those of you who rely heavily on your mobile phone, there are both Prepaid and Post Paid Plan options to consider.

WHICH SHOULD SANDRA PICK?
Looking at the large providers, I found the following options for Sandra

OPTUS
$25 per month SIM ONLY plan (This is currently an online offer ending on 2/10/17. Usually $30 per month)
Includes:

2GB Data + 1GB Bonus (if you are reconstructing)
Unlimited Talk and Text
Included Entertainment (which means Sandra can use apps like Spotify when out and about without chewing into her 2GB data allowance)
Need to sign up for 12 months

TELSTRA
$39 per month SIM ONLY planIncludes:

2GB Data
$500 worth of talk and text
Need to sign up for 12 months

VODAPHONE
$30 per month SIM ONLY planIncludes:

1GB Data
Unlimited Talk and Text
Need to sign up for 12 months

Straight away, the OPTUS deal looks like the best option. However, you were travelling to rural towns frequently, you would have to rule the Telstra option out.

Let’s take a look at a smaller provider.

KOGAN MOBILE
SMALL SIM ONLY planIncludes:

1.5GB Data
Unlimited Talk and Text

Now, you have three options.
1. Recharge every 30 Days, and pay $16.90
2. Recharge every 90 Days, and pay $46.90
3. Recharge every 365 Days and pay $179.90

Runs on Telstra Network

	ALDI MOBILE $15 per month SIM ONLY planIncludes: 500MB Data Unlimited Calls and standard SMS No contract Runs on Telstra Network
	ALDI MOBILE $25 per month SIM ONLY planIncludes: 3GB Data Unlimited Calls and standard SMS 100 International minutes No contract Runs on Telstra Network
	TPG MOBILE $10 per month SIM ONLY planIncludes: 1.5GB Data $550 Included Calls and Text Unlimited Calls to other TPG Mobile and home phone numbers Need to sign up for 6 months
	TPG MOBILE $15 per month SIM ONLY planIncludes: 4GB Data Unlimited Calls and Text 100 International Minutes Unlimited Calls to other TPG Mobile and home phone numbers Need to sign up for 6 months

Now that we have looked at the smaller players, the TPG $15 per month deal looks pretty good to me!!
Sandra would save $48 per year by switching from her current $19 plan to this $15 plan and gain the following: