Mobile Data Usage (calls too)

Continuing the discussion from Outright Purchase iPhone versus Plan purchase:

Mobile Plans, data usage and all that. I’m interested in what plans people are on vs what they actually use. Feel free to share as much (or as little) detail as you like:

Carrier: Telstra
Pre-Paid or Post Paid: Post Paid
Business or Retail: Business
Plan: $55 Go Mobile - BYO SIM
Call Allowance: $1,200
Data Allowance: 2.5GB (Pooled/shared on account)
Actual Data Use: 2.5GB

(For me I have my wife’s phone and a 4G WiFi hotspot on the same bill so all that data adds together giving me a bigger pool to draw down on so I do get stung for excess until I use all the data from all the accounts… which I’m nowhere near)

Template:
Carrier:
Pre-Paid or Post Paid:
Business or Retail:
Plan:
Call Allowance:
Data Allowance:
Actual Data Use:

Was pretty sure I read something online recently which said the average user only uses about 1.5GB data every month, but the only sources for that info I can find are from 2012, hmm.

Carrier: Telstra
Pre-Paid or Post Paid: postpaid
Business or Retail: retail/consumer
Plan: $39 Staff Cap Plan
Call Allowance: $400
Data Allowance: 1GB
Actual Data Use: Most of the time under 1GB, but I find that I’ve been going over about every other month.

Carrier:Telstra
Pre-Paid or Post Paid:Postpaid
Business or Retail:N/A
Plan:$40 Staff Connect Plan
Call Allowance:Unlimited but I rarely make calls
Data Allowance:5.1GB (the extra 100MB as a result of having a data share sim for my iPad)
Actual Data Use: 4-5GB on average each month

Carrier: OPTUS
Pre-Paid or Post Paid: Post Paid
Business or Retail: Retail
Plan: $35/month
Call Allowance: 300min (Never ran out, but not real social)
Data Allowance: 512MB
Actual Data Use: Approx 80-90%

I’ve just been reading up… and see now that as I’m off the original contract which included payments for the handset (ie i5S) if I change to the $30 plan, monthly commitment, I’ll get 3 times the data, and unlimited calls…!

Carrier: Optus
Pre-Paid or Post Paid: Post
Business or Retail: Retail
Plan: $100 My Plan Plus
Call Allowance: Unlimited
Data Allowance: 10gb (plus 10gb pooled and shared with one other mobile and an iPad).
Actual Data Use: 22-25gb most months (across all three devices)

Carrier: Amaysim (running on Optus)
Pre-Paid or Post Paid: Pre-Paid
Business or Retail: Retail
Plan: $19.90/30 days FLEXI plan
Call Allowance: $19.90 worth including SMS
Data Allowance: 500MB comes with the plan
Actual Data Use: 3GB

So I use the $19.90 call or credit allowance to buy another 2.5GB data pack and I don’t really make phone calls (work phone), calls to my partner is free as he’s on the same carrier as me :grin:

It’s awesome that you’ve found that little scam and will save because of it (and get more stuff). I encourage everyone to review their plans from time to time and even trying calling up and asking for a discount. I was on an older $80 BYO plan but realised Telstra were now offering newer plans where the $55 plan had far better value. I asked nicely and shifted both phones to the new rate even though I was still under a “contract” for the BYO SIM…

In short, ask for things because the carriers sometimes give them to you!

Carrier: Boost Mobile (Telstra 4G network)
Pre-Paid or Post Paid: Pre-paid
Business or Retail: N/A
Plan: $40/month
Call Allowance: Unlimited Aus wide
Data Allowance: 3GB data (but from 9pm Friday to 23:59 Sunday I get 2GB to use every weekend).
Actual Data Use: 9 to 11GB per month. Where we live we have no access to any form of internet.

You can now add a $15 Voice and Data pack that gives you an extra 2GB, and unlimited calls + SMS, making the total maximum cost $25 a month, unless you use more than 3GB (in which case you get charged the $10 per 1GB). Things like International calls, Premium SMS etc are still extra.

Interesting. I do almost zero calls and SMS, so provided I don’t go over the 1GB limit my monthly bill is usually $10. But even when I do go over its only $20. Thanks for the heads up though, I’ll look into it!

I’m on Vodafone’s $50 plan which has 10GB thanks to a promotion they were running earlier in the year (I think it’s normally 4GB). I use 2-3GB a month, but half of that is tethering my laptop to my phone. Unlimited national/mobile calls, sms, and international calls to a handful of countries, plus 300 mins of calls to lots of other international countries. An equivalent Telstra plan would cost your left kidney. But then Telstra customers get coverage outside the big cities where us Vodafone plebs are struggling with a couple of bars of GPRS (remember that?).

I am on Telstra’s pre paid $30 which gives me enough data to hotspot my iMac 21.5 or my iPad when internet is down (very frequent these days as NBN is working close to local exchange).
Carrier: Telstra
Pre-Paid or Post Paid: Pre Paid
Business or Retail: Retail
Plan: Freedom Anytime $30 per month
Call Allowance: $250 including prepaid $30
Data Allowance: 1.3 Gb
Actual Data Use: about 0.5 Gb

Carrier: Amaysim
Pre-Paid or Post Paid: Pre-Paid (BYO phone)
Business or Retail: Retail
Plan: Unlimited talk and text 3GB / 28 days (grrr, recent underhanded change)
Call Allowance: Unlimited national calls + 10 other countries
Data Allowance: 3GB
Actual Data Use: 1GB-3GB, depending on the month. Usually more when travelling (Google Maps, more mobile browsing etc)