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VPNs for ad-blocking Gone are the days when one could pull on a pair of parachute pants, buy brick-sized phone and flip a coin with Telstra on one side and Optus on the other. You’re now spoiled for choice, because small mobile service providers— or Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) — dominate the telco market. These MVNOs are typically cheaper while offering the same (or similar) coverage as the big three networks. This smaller, more versatile outfits are especially appealing for Australians who rely on Telstra’s leading coverage but can’t stomach the premium plan costs. So let’s dive right in and look at the best plans and providers powered by Telstra. To start, these are the most popular plans currently available on the Telstra network. Generally speaking, Tangerine’ range of postpaid plans tends to sit at the lower end of the market. And, they also come with the lovely no-strings-attached dynamic of a no-lock-in contract – so if you do find you’re operating in some sort of Bermuda Triangle of bad coverage, you can go elsewhere without much of a worry. Tangerine plans also have one of the best provider perks available: unlimited calls to 15 countries. It’s also worth noting that the monthly data allotment (and bonus data) is providing great value in this price band. Plus, anything data you don’t use can be rolled over up to a maximum of 500GB. While Telstra’s mobile network is unrivalled in terms of coverage and speed, the biggest dog on the block is always in the position to charge you premium rates for its services (and obviously that’s not ideal if you’re trying to stay connected on a budget). Enter the smaller concern MVNOs who only use a marginally smaller part of Telstra’s 3G/4G network (less coverage in some rural and regional areas) and are therefore in a better position to give you a cheaper deal. Telstra’s full 4G and 3G network covers 99.5% of the population. Meanwhile, the Telstra wholesale network covers 98.8% of the population. In practice, this means those in some remote areas get Telstra coverage on a Telstra MVNO. Boost is the one exception to this rule - it has access to the full 4G and 3G Telstra network. Belong has unlimited data banking, however, so you’ll be able to save any unused gigs for a rainy day. And if you do manage to go over your allowance, you can keep using your service with no excess charges, capped to speeds of 1Mbps. This plan also has 5G connectivity, but the speeds are limited to 100Mbps. Check out the most popular Woolworths Mobile phone bundles below. For comparison, most other Telstra MVNOs selling selling 5G mobile plans with 250Mbps speeds charge at least $55 per month. MATE says this offer will be available until January 31. We don’t know how much it will cost after, but if you sign-up now, you’ll lock in the price for the life of your plan. Adding a Superloop SIM-only mobile plan to the same account as your Superloop NBN plan will save you $5 per month. You can save a further $2.50 per month for each Superloop mobile plan on your account after the first, up to a maximum of $15 per month with five SIM-only plans. If you’re not already a Superloop customer, here are its NBN plans: More is partially owned by CommBank, and as such, offers a 30% discount on all of its mobile plans to CommBank customers. This discount lasts for your first year with More, after which you get a smaller ongoing 10% discount. More has the usual Telstra network perks including international calls to 15 countries and the ability to bank up to 500GB of data. Just be aware that MMS isn’t unlimited on More; you only get 1,000 per month. It’s worth noting that Belong’s two cheaper plans are capped to speeds of 100Mbps. If you want faster speeds, you’ll need to go for its 400GB option. Here you’ll get 180Mbps on 4G or 250Mbps if you’re in a 5G area. If none of the MVNOs suit your smartphone needs, take a look at Telstra’s prepaid and postpaid phone plans below. The key to finding the right one is understanding your own data usage. There’s no point paying for a 100GB plan if you only use 10GB per month, but you also don’t want to buy a plan with no wiggle room. If you tend to use about 15GB per month, a 25GB or so plan would be a safe bet as it gives you a good buffer. This means you shouldn’t end up in a situation where you have to pay excess charges if you have a busier than expected per month or your data usage grows. You should also ensure your plan has any extra inclusions you may need, like international calls to a select country. Typically the perks being dangled here include data rollover, data-free streaming (usually aimed at Netflix/Stan aficionados), no-contract plan options and more competitive approaches to better customer service and/or network coverage.
