I have been trying to reduce our living costs, including telecommunication expenses. As my mobile usage is low, I have been using the Optus “Long Expiry (6 months) Prepaid Plan”. Only recently after doing some market research, I switched over to Amaysim “As You Go Plan” which offers a much better deal. However, I soon discovered an even cheaper option, the “Savvy Lite Plan” offered by a company called Savvytel.
Savvytel has another plan highly suitable for people who make occasional calls. This is called the “Call Credits Never Expire” plan, which I believe is the only Australian prepaid mobile plan in which you do not lose your credits if you do not recharge or make a phone call.
Amaysim offers a highly-acclaimed Unlimited Plan which includes unlimited calls, SMS, MMS and 4 GB of data for $39.90 a month. With a 30-day commitment, you are not locked into a long-term contract. Amaysim is currently not offering handsets so this is a SIM-only plan in which you need to bring your own mobile.
The table below shows the comparison between the 3 plans, which all use the Optus 3G network.
| Optus | Amaysim | Savvytel | |
| Plan | Long Expiry Cap | As You Go | Savvy Lite |
| Network | Optus 3G | Optus 3G | Optus 3G |
| Standard Call | 89c/min | 12c/min | 10c/min |
| Standard SMS | 29c/SMS | 12c/SMS | 12c/SMS |
| Standard MMS | 75c/MMS | 49c/MMS | 35c/MMS |
| Data | $2/MB | 5c/MB | 5c/MB |
| 13/15/18 numbers | Not sure | 29c/min | 10c/min |
| Flagfall/Connection Fee | 39c/call | 0 | 0 |
| Voicemail Retrieval | 89c/min + 39c flagfall |
15c/min | 10c/min |
| Expiry Period | 186 days | 90 days | 90 days |
| Minimum Recharge | $30 (gives credit $50 any network + $100 Optus mobiles) |
$15 | $10 |
| Credit Rollover | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Contract | No | No | No |
| Free Social Network Access | No | Free unlimited access to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, eBay & Foursquare |
No |
I will discuss about landline, ADSL, VoIP and postpaid mobile plans, with particular emphasis on the Altona area, in future posts.
Great information and clear way of presentation – I have been looking into this for a while myself and last week bought the $2 Woolworths mobile SIM. I haven't compared it fully with your info but it seems Savvytel would be best so far for me. I use a TomTom for my car navigation and there is a point of interest POI file that lists the location of bases. It useful for me as I often go out of range of my main provider (Vodafone VF) network. I can then steer near an Optus tower to text etc when VF coverage drops off. I use VF as it was my provider in UK and my main handset is locked to VF. Speaking of things 'communication' did you know that it is quite easy to hear voices from space in Altona? I do it regularly using the listen side of my amateur radio transceiver. For some more info try http://www.electroteach.com/arissat/
callsign VK3KMJ
Did you buy the $2 Woolworths mobile SIM? When I checked out of Safeway at Altona Gate S.C. one day, I saw a lot of $2 SIM cards (different companies) outside the supermarket and there was a sign saying that they are free. Not sure if these cards contain any credit but what does the $2 mean?
My understanding is that you pay $2 for the SIM (card) and have to purchase an amount of credit about $30 before you can use it. I just checked my Woolworths till receipt and it shows :
WOW $2 SIM pack $2
and the checkout girl took my ID details ( drivers licence ) [My spelling has gone to pot since I returned to Aus so I try to remember the English spelling – for me preferable to US spelling !?!? ].
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Prepaid Mobile Sim