Some of the cheapest phone plans are pre-paid plans - they have restrictions, but the good news is there are more options than ever.
The latest is from Aldi, the supermarket chain, which is expected to start offering pre-paid mobile phone plans this week on March 6, according to the ALDImobile web site. The list of prices is below.
So what do you need to know?
-
There are all sorts of pre-paid mobile providers, such as Amaysim. They don't all own mobile phone networks - your phone still connects to one of the big networks (Telstra, Optus, Vodafone).
-
It's only relatively recently that Telstra allowed these pre-paid providers to sell access to the Telstra network. Aldi is one provider offering cheaper Telstra access, Kogan Mobile is another.
-
These pre-paid rates can be much cheaper than the network provider charges - for example, you might get a much bigger data quota for your money.
-
But there can be certain limitations - a significant one with Aldi and Kogan is that you don't get to use Telstra's 4G network, so Internet downloads won't be nearly as fast as a 4G Telstra plan.
-
Another limitation - Aldi and Kogan provide slightly less 3G coverage than Telstra, with 97% of the Australian population covered, in comparison to the 99% 3G coverage you would get using a Telstra pre-paid or Post-paid service.
So who offers the better value between Kogan mobile and Aldi? Below are the prices for both providers.
Aldi is offering 5GB at $35 per month, compared with Kogan’s $29 per month for 6GB plus unlimited calls deal.
While most of these plans expire after a short period (30 days in the case of Aldi), Aldi has a plan that doesn't expire for 365 days.
