Did you know you can get a mobile phone plan in Australia where you can call countries like China for 6 cents a minute? And you don’t have to pay top dollar for all the calls, texts and data you need – get it for just $40 a month. So take a look…
1. Boost
Boost is a budget mobile phone carrier which uses the Telstra 3G network with 4G now available for 4G devices, so you have coverage across most of Australia – just check the map on their site. You can go to Boost’s website or call them to get started. Just buy a $2 Boost sim card at a BP or Caltex petrol station, IGA or 7-Eleven store or Officeworks, then tell Boost to port your number across from your current carrier to your new sim card. You can set yourself up on a monthly offer which you renew every month- or simply set it to auto-recharge and it’ll roll over each month. The offers are:
- $20 Ultra offer with 100 minutes of national calls, unlimited texts and 1GB data per 30 days
- $40 Unlimited offer with unlimited national calls, unlimited texts and 3GB data per 30 days
2. Aldi Mobile
Aldi Mobile is on the Telstra 3G network as well . With Aldi Mobile you need to do everything online but you can call them to ask questions when you’re setting up. Simply buy an Aldi sim card at your local Aldi store or online – and then activate it online. (One thing to note though – Aldi Mobile does not provide global roaming so if you go overseas, you won’t be able to use your mobile phone.) You can choose from a whole range of monthly plans including:
- S $10 – up to 100 minutes of national calls or 100 SMS’s, no data per 30 days
- M $20 – up to 300 minutes of national calls and 50,000 SMS’s, 700 Mb data per 30 days
- L $30 – up to 650 minutes of national calls, 50,000 SMS’s and 1.5GB data per 30 days
- XL $35 – up to 1250 minutes of national calls, 50,000 SMS’s and 3GB data per 30 days
- XXL $45 – up to 43,200 minutes of national calls, 40,000 SMS’s, 20,000 MMS’s and 4GB data per 30 days
3. Lycamobile
Lycamobile uses the Telstra 3G network so again, you have reasonable coverage. This carrier is particularly good if you need to make a lot of overseas calls as they offer extremely cheap rates to Asia, Africa, Europe and America – cheaper than Skype!! To get on Lycamobile, order a free sim card from their site or buy one from Dick Smiths, BP or Woolworths. They offer extremely cheap international calls – for example, if you’re on a Lycamobile here in Australia, it’s 2 cents a minute to call China. Go to the website and simply type in the country you wish to call and the rate comes up. They have a whole range of different plans or ‘bundles’ as they call them, including:
- Super Saver Plan – $39.90 – Unlimited calls and SMS’s and 1GB data per 30 days
- Mini Talk & Text – $15 – 150 minutes of national calls and 50 national texts per 30 days
- Saver Plan M – $30 – 300 minutes national & international calls, 100 national texts, 500 MB data per 30 days
- Saver Plan L – $60 – 700 minutes national & international calls, unlimited national texts, plus discounted international Pay As You Go rates to 50+ countries (Flagfall 29¢) and 1GB dataper 30 days
- Saver Plan XL – $90 – 1000 minutes national & international calls, unlimited national texts, plus discounted international Pay As You Go rates to 50+ countries (Flagfall 29¢) and 3GB data per 30 days
4. amaysim
Amaysim runs on the Optus 4G Plus network. If you order your Amaysim sim card from their site before 3pm Monday to Friday, they’ll have it delivered to you within 3 hours in Sydney or Melbourne and within 2 – 5 days elsewhere in Australia. Plus on any amaysim plan, you get cheap international calls from 6c per minute to selected countries, no flagfall and 25c per international SMS. There’s a variety of plans including:
- Unlimited 2GB – $29.90 – Unlimited national calls and SMS’s & MMS’s plus 2GB data per 30 days – special only $15 for first 30 days
- Unlimited 5GB – $44.90 – Unlimited national calls and SMS’s & MMS’s plus 5GB data per 30 days – special only $15 for first 30 days
- Unlimited 7GB – $54.90 – Unlimited national calls and SMS’s & MMS’s plus 7GB data per 30 days
