Could You Be Paying Too Much For Your Mobile?

If you’re like most Australians, then you could be saving up to 50% on your mobile usage by comparing your plan to the best deals on the market and switching to a different provider.

After finishing a 24 month contract, your mobile provider will leave you on the same plan unless you contact them, and this will mean that you’ll be paying a lot more than you need to for your calls, messages and data.

While the competition between Australia’s three mobile networks (Vodafone, Telstra and Optus) is strong, there is another group of mobile companies that most consumers aren’t aware of, and they are the ones that consistently offer the best prices on your mobile plan.

These smaller providers are called “Mobile Virtual Network Operators”, or MVNOs. They have contracts with a network operator to buy services at a wholesale rate and add their own customer service, billing and create their own unique rate plans that they offer to the public.

As a result of their lower overheads, the plans on offer from most MVNOs tend to be a lot better value than the ones from network operators. Some of these providers are even publicly listed, including Amaysim (the largest MVNO in Australia with approximately 700,000 customers on their books) and Yatango (who are in the process of becoming listed on the ASX at the time of writing).

2015 has seen a new price and service war between the MVNOs based on the new 4G mobile technology that was first introduced in Australia in 2013 and has been made available to customers of most MVNOs over the past 18 months.

Along with their MVNO competition, Amaysim and Yatango both offer low cost plans with a range of different options, ranging from pay for what you use plans that offer calls for 11-12c per minute through to unlimited plans. The only catch is that you must bring your own phone with you (or purchase a new unlocked handset).

MVNOs on the Optus 4G network get access to the full network coverage and speeds that Optus delivers to customers who sign up directly with Optus, however this is not the case for MVNOs like Telechoice, Lycamobile, Woolworths Connect and Aldi Mobile who use the Telstra Wholesale network. In order to protect Telstra’s retail offerings, customers who connect to MVNOs on the Telstra network only receive access to a portion of the Telstra 3G (NextG) network which covers 98.5% of the population. 

With all providers in Australia needing to offer Mobile Number Portability (MNP), it makes it very easy to get the best value on your mobile plan without worrying about having to tell all of your friends that you’ve changed providers or change your number. Just pick the option to bring your own number when you join, and provide the requested identifying information.

Most MVNOs also don’t require you to sign a 24 month, lock in contract when you join which gives you the freedom to leave at any time if there’s a better deal and makes them accountable to ensure that they’re offering the best deals (or face a customer exodus). 

You might be thinking “This is all well and good, but how do I find the best plan?”. This would normally mean needing to shop around all of the different providers, comparing the inclusions and pricing of each plan and hoping that you find the right one for your needs.

However, there is an easier way. A comparison shopping web site called Plan Panda promises to make this easier for you. “I’ve been interested in mobiles for over 15 years and have used all of the networks in Australia plus many of the MVNOs” says the site’s founder, Ollie McKean. McKean built the site after facing the problem of trying to find the best plan for his needs and realising that there were probably a lot of other Australians who needed help to find the best deal on their mobile plan.

Plan Panda is a free resource that allows Australians to compare prepaid mobile plans and postpaid plans across common plan types (including mobile broadband plans) to help them find the right plan for their needs.