Not everyone wants to be locked into a plan, and deciding to go prepaid means you’ll never need to spend more than you have to. Prepaid services often stand in the shadows of their long-term counterparts, so at Compare Broadband we’re bringing prepaid back into the spotlight to compare what is on offer by some of the major mobile carriers.
Choosing between prepaid plans isn’t just about finding which one offers the most value for the smallest cost. Other things to consider include the mobile phone handsets which are on offer, how long you have before your credit expires, call rates and bonus add-ons. Remember that you can always BYO mobile phone if there’s another handset you’d like to use with your chosen prepaid service.
Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile offers four different types of prepaid plans: Your Caps, Long Expiry, International and Bean Counter. The mobile phones on offer are the same for each type of prepaid plan. Prepaid phones include the Nokia 1800 and the Nokia 2710 Navigator.
Your Caps are Virgin Mobile’s most popular prepaid plans, and they suit every day customers whose usage is consistent and mainly within Australia. Recharge vouchers range from $19 ($50 credit) up to $75 ($650). All Your Caps include unlimited text to Australian mobiles, 1GB of bonus data and unlimited mobile talk to other Virgin mobile customers within Australia. Standard call rate is 90c/min + 40c call connection. Credit expires after 28 days.
Long Expiry plans are just what the name applies – credit expires between 180-365 days, depending on which voucher you recharge with. There isn’t as much credit included in these vouchers as in the Your Caps, but there’s more flexibility in terms of expiration date. Vouchers range from $15 to $100. Standard call rates are very low at 5c/min + 40c call connection. There’s no data included in these plans.
The International prepaid service is a $20 voucher with $20 of included value. The voucher suits customers who make a lot of international calls and want to take advantage of cheap overseas rates. Calls to mobiles in Australia are also cheap at 20c/min + 20c call connection. Calls overseas start at 5c/min with no connection fee. Countries included in this call rate include Canada, USA, India, China and Thailand.
The Bean Counter voucher will suit prepaid customers who use their mobile phone service sporadically. There is a 45-day expiry on the $25 voucher, and standard call rates are dirt cheap at only 10c/min + 25c call connection. Texts are only 10c each.
Telstra
Telstra prepaid plans may not be as cheap as some of the other providers, but they are more reliable for coverage and a faster mobile internet service. Standard call rates are 89c/min + 39c call connection.
Mobile phones available with a Telstra prepaid service include the LG Xenon, Samsung Galaxy S, Nokia C5 and Nokia C6.
Recharge vouchers range from $20-$100, and Telstra will offer that same amount in credit. Depending on which voucher you recharge, there will be a bonus option to choose from. Options include Prepaid weekend (free weekend national talk and text and bonus data); Prepaid cap (bonus credit and bonus data); Talk & Text (bonus minutes and text); 1c text (includes bonus data); Talk Time and Telstra long life (vouchers will have a long expiry).
Dodo
When it comes to prepaid, Dodo knows how to make things simple. There are only four vouchers available, priced from $15 up to $100. The value of the voucher will give you the same amount in credit, and each voucher includes a certain amount of minutes of free talk time.
Each voucher has a 60-day expiry, and standard call rates are a cheap 15c/30 secs + 25c call connection. Dodo has a huge range of handsets you can purchase outright, including the Samsung B2700, Nokia E72 and the Nokia X6.