Unlimited mobile phone plans on offer tend to be similar in value. They range from $99 to $129 a month. The key distinction between a low-end and a high-end unlimited plan is low end plans do not include voicemail, while the more expensive unlimited plans do.
Most unlimited mobile phone plans do not include international roaming (except for Vodafone, who include international SMS in their unlimited plans). Most unlimited plans do not include calls to 13, 15 or 18 numbers (apart from 3’s $119 plan), or any premium services. You will also be charged if you exceed the included data for the month.
Vodafone
$99 Unlimited Cap – 24 months – 1.5GB of data.
This cap does not include voicemail retrieval or national roaming (which is on the Telstra network). National roaming calls are billed in one second increments and cost 90c per minute.
This unlimited cap is good value if you make a lot of standard voice calls or send international text messages, but not if you frequently retrieve voicemail messages.
Additional data is charged at 50 cents per MB.
$129 Unlimited Cap – 24 months – 4GB of data
While this unlimited plan includes voicemail, national roaming (on the Telstra network) is not included in the cap. National roaming calls are billed in one second increments and cost 90c per minute.
This cap is good value if you make a lot of standard voice calls, send international text messages, use voicemail and download a very large amount of data.
Additional data is charged at 50 cents per MB
Optus – ‘yes’ Timeless Plans
$99 – 12, 24 or month-to-month– 500MB of data
This plan is only available when you purchase the $14.99 data pack with it (which includes the 500MB of data). So essentially, you are paying $113.99 each month. As a result of this requirement, you pay $113.99 each month for a plan that does not include voicemail retrieval, making it more expensive than some other unlimited plans.
This plan is good value if you make a lot of voicemail calls, or if you are after an unlimited plan with no long-term contract.
Additional data is charged at 35 cents per MB.
$119 – 12, 24 or month-to-month – Data packs available
This plan does not include voicemail retrieval. It’s an unlimited plan including only $5 more each month than Optus’s $99+$14.99 plan, but still requires you to purchase a data pack for $4.99, or $9.99 extra if you would like to surf the internet.
This plan is good for users who don’t use their phone for data, and therefore only need to pay $119 each month. It also offers flexibility, as you don’t need to sign up for a 12 or 24 month contract.
Additional data is charged at 35 cents per MB (or 50 cents per MB if you’re on the month-to-month option).
$129 – 12, 24 or month-to-month – 2GB of data
This plan includes voicemail and comes with 2GB of data. It’s the same price as the highest Vodafone unlimited cap, with much the same value except with Optus you won’t have to worry about any national roaming charges.
Additional data is charged at 35 cents per MB.
3 Mobile
$99 Unlimited Cap – 24 months – 2GB of data
While voicemail is not included, 3’s $99 Unlimited Cap is good value if you make a lot of calls and use a large amount of data on your mobile phone. This cap appears to be the best value for an unlimited plan that does not include voicemail, because it has a large amount of data included in the plan at no extra cost.
Additional data is charged at 10 cents per MB.
$119 Cap – 24 months – 4GB of data
3’s $119 cap is one of the cheapest unlimited plans that include voicemail. The plan includes a whopping 4GB of data, with a very low 10 cents per MB if you exceed your limit. This cap is great for internet users on the go, and the plan also includes calls to 13, 15 and 18 numbers.
Additional data is charged at 10 cents per MB.
Virgin Mobile
$99 Topless Plan – When you BYO – 1GB of data
This Virgin Mobile phone plan is one of the best unlimited plans available, (except for the additional data charges, which work out to be $2.00 per MB). It includes voicemail within Australia and calls to 13 and 1300 numbers. While this plan has the best value, you will need to BYO phone and be careful not to exceed your data limit as it would be very expensive.
Additional data is charged at 0.2 cents per KB.