Coming to Australia with a mobile phone? You'll probably want to get an Australian SIM-card! Here's what to do!

This article is an update of an article (Mobiltelefon i Australia) I wrote two years ago. (And yes, it was in Norwegian! :o)

There are many, many mobile operators here. I will not give a complete overview of all of them... Rather, I'll pick at Telstra, Optus, Virgin and Vodafone, just to give you an idea of what options are available for you.

First off, if you're not staying here permanently, it's probably best to get a prepaid subscription (kontantkort). Otherwise, many of the mobile companies seem to demand that you put down a security deposit to sign up for a monthly plan. That's what happened to me, anyway!

Getting a prepaid card is really simple. You just drop by a mobile-store and pick up a starter kit... You usually pay around $30, which goes towards your call credit.

Here's a little run-down of the prepaid offers from a few of the biggest mobile operators:

Telstra

Telstra offers a couple of different prepay options.

With Telstra Prepaid you calls cost $0.88 per minute between 0700 and 1900, and $0.44 between 1900 and 0700. SMS costs $0.25 per message.

Telstra Prepaid Plus lets you choose between the same call price all day long, or more expensive calls during day and cheaper calls at night. The latter option gives you $1.00-per-minute calls between 0700 and 1900, and $0.40 p/m calls between 1900 and 0700. Between 2100 and 0700 you can call any Australian mobile phone for $0.01 per minute for the first 15 minutes. SMS costs $0.25 per message. Full-time students get a 50% discount on SMS at night-time.

All Telstra prepaid packages have a $0.20 connection fee on phone calls.

For more info:
Telstra prepaid rates
Communic8 (Pre-paid Plus)

Optus

With Optus, you can make calls within Australia for $0.74 per minute. Additionally, each call attracts a $0.25 connection fee (flagfall). You can text for $0.25 per message.

Signing up for Optus prepaid, you get to choose between two discount options:

If you go for Free Calls Anytime you can make free calls to other Optus prepaid subscribers all day and night. The number of free minutes you get to call for is determined by the amount of dollars you put into your call credit each time. Buying a $30 recharge card, you get 300 minutes of free talking, while a $50 card gives you 500 minutes free.

The other discount option is called 30 for 10 night. If you select this, you pay $0.30 for 10 minutes of calling to any mobile in Australia between 2000 and 0700.

For more information:
Optus prepaid rates

Virgin Mobile

Virgin Mobile's prepaid plan is pretty straight-forward. You pay $0.56 per minute plus a connection fee of $0.20 for calls. Texting will cost you $0.20 per message. Texting to another Virgin mobile costs $0.05 per message.

Worth noting is a sneaky little $0.20 fee everytime you call to check your prepaid balance. Also, there is a monthly minimum spending limit of $15.

For more info:
Virgin prepaid rates

Vodafone
Vodafone has a tricky setup when it comes to prepaid subscriptions. However, it turns out to be possibly the best offer on the market.

Vodafone's prepay plan is called Red Sim Prepaid. You get discounted calls and text messages depending on how much you recharge your prepay account. The standard rates are $0.60 per minute for calls, and $0.25 per text message.

Each time you put money into your prepaid account, you can choose between three different rebate plans.

The first is simply called 365 days. With this plan, you text and talk for the standard rates I mentioned above - but you have one year to spend whatever credit you have in your prepay account.

With Free TXT You get free text-messages every time you recharge your account. If you put $30 in, you can send 60 free messages. For a $50 recharge, you get 120 free texts while a $100 recharge gives you 360 free SMSs. If you're loaded, you can put $200 in and get a massive 1200 free texts. Calls cost you $0.60 per minute. Once you've spent all your free texts, you can keep on messaging for $0.25 per SMS.

The Great Call Rates plan gives you cheaper calls and $0.25 text messages. Putting in $30 gives you $0.40 per-minute calls. A $50 recharge takes the minute price down to $0.30. With a $100 top-up you get $0.25 p/m calls, while $200 gives you $0.20 p/m talk time.

With the Free TXT and Great Call Rates plans, you can make calls for $0.20 per talk to other Vodafone mobiles. A $30 recharge gives you 100 minutes of $0.20 Vodafone to Vodafone calls, while $50 gives you 200 minutes. Put in $100, and you get 450 minutes, while $200 gives you 1000 minutes. Your 20-cent calls can be as long as you like, as long as you stay within the free minutes. Once you deplete your free time, you'll be charged according to the standard call rate.

Recharges on the Free TXT and Great Call Rates plans are valid for two months only. However, any unused free texts and Vodafone to Vodafone minutes can be rolled over when you recharge within two months. This means that if you, for example, have 50 free texts left after two months, these will be added to your new batch of free texts when you recharge.

For more info:
Vodafone prepaid rates

So...

This was just a quick run-down of some prepaid mobile services in Australia. Which plan is best all depends on your needs and your friends. Say all your friends are on Virgin Mobile and you text a lot, it could be a good idea to go for Virgin! Same, if your friends are all on Optus, you can make cheap calls to them all day long! However, overall it seems Vodafone has the best offer!

there has been some changes in the allready complicated vodafone pre-paid system. if you recharge your mobile with $ 50, you'll get 500 free sms if you are connected to "red sim"

-simen-

Thanks for that, Simen... You're right! Until September 30, you get 500 free text messages when you recharge your Vodafone Red Sim Prepaid account with AU$50!!! (As long as you have selected the Free TXT plan!)

If you use your cell phone to send SMS only, that equates to ¢7 per text - i.e. you get to send 700 texts for the $50 you put in! :o) (Vodafone's regular SMS charge is ¢25 per text.)

Check Vodafone's website for more info