Unlimited mobile plans have been the flavor of 2011. Between the Optus original Dollar Days plans now $2 Days and Boost $30 Super Cap, prepaid mobile plans that gave you unlimited features came to life. These offers where then joined by Amaysim with their Unlimited plan although it wasn’t quite prepaid, more like pay monthly with the risk of you overspending if you make calls that aren’t included in what is defined as “Unlimited”.
And there it began, now we have a total of 16 prepaid mobile and sim only BYO mobile “Unlimited Offers” that you can choose from. I have reviewed them a few times via our newsletter and two weeks ago I decided they deserved their own page on the prepaidplans website so that you can keep an eye on the list and the changes that may occur. You can compare the prepaid unlimited plans here and the sim only BYO mobile plans here.
What I wanted to do with these plans was to show you exactly what is and what isn’t included. The true definition of prepaid is that you recharge for a certain value and when the credit gets used up or the recharge expiry period comes around, the credit is lost and you can’t spend any more (until you recharge again). Prepaid was designed to protect you from overspending.
Earlier this week, LifeHacker wrote a post on “Prepaid Unlimited Plans” and listed many of them. Whilst the list missed a few of the newer ones, it mixed Sim Only BYO plans with actual prepaid mobile plans. I left a few comments and I am sure the guys there know the difference but I wonder if readers do? I doubt it given the feedback I get from the prepaidplans site. I often wonder what people think of the labels I use, “Prepaid Mobile”, “Sim Only”. Sim Only isn’t quite right, but it is hard to get it right.
Where I am going with this is that as a mobile phone owner and someone who might be on the look out for a new plan, when you read the Life Hacker list or when you look at “Sim Only” on my website, understand that these plans give you unlimited calls for the month on certain call types for a flat monthly amount eg $39.90. Should you make calls to numbers not included eg 1300 or 1800, then these calls and the cost of them will be charged to you over and above the $39.90 that you are expecting to pay.
The tables I have provided on the “Unlimited” pages show you what calls are and aren’t included. In most cases what isn’t included is 1300, 1800, video calls, MMS, international calls and TXT.
As a reader on our Facebook page rightly put it “The only thing holding you back on this plan to win market share is your 13/1800 29c per minute (not included in the cap). Most providers fail in this area miserably. I would switch to you tomorrow if i knew i wasn’t going to be penalised for these calls.”