Spin Internet has been around for quite some time but it wasn’t until recently that I really took notice of their Pay As You Go mobile broadband offer. The reason I took notice was because we are now covering Pay As You Go mobile plans on the prepaid plans website. There is nothing revolutionary about this type of plan but not many ISPs are actually offering it. Most are sticking to monthly mobile broadband plans with some expanding the suite out to prepaid mobile broadband as well.
You see the whole concept of pay as you go plans where you get similar benefits or value to monthly plans but aren’t locked into a contract isn’t heavily promoted in Australia. Its not that they aren’t available but they just don’t get the air time that monthly and prepaid plans get. Pretty much all mobile carriers offer these types of plans.
I like them and I think they have a future because they offer greater value in free calls etc than do prepaid mobile plans. So you can switch when and to whom you wish and take your phone with you.
This post isn’t about mobile plans, its about mobile broadband and as far as I know Spin Internet and Comcen (same company) are the only ones offering this type of plan.
What they are offering is a a no contract plan that has a monthly fee of $5.50. The plan doesn’t come with a monthly limit of data however you simply pay for what you use at 3c per MB. The modem is sold for $99.
What I like about this plan is that you only pay for what you use. So if you used 500MB one month and 1GB then next, you would be charged $15 one month and $30 the next (ex the service fee). Now the rate of 3c a MB isn’t cheap so if you are planning to use your mobile broadband regularly then this certainly isn’t the plan for you.
How does it compare to a monthly mobile broadband plan or to prepaid. Lets compare it to 3 Mobile over the course of a year.
| Monthly usage | 3 Mobile Monthly |
3 Mobile Prepaid |
Spin PAYG |
| Jan – 700MB | 1GB at $19 (inc modem costs) |
2GB at $30 (30 day expiry) + $99 for modem |
$21 +$5.50 |
| Feb – 900 MB | $27 +$5.50 | ||
| Mar – 1 GB | $30 +$5.50 | ||
| Apr – 900 MB | $27 +$5.50 | ||
| May – 600 MB | $18 +$5.50 | ||
| Jun – 900 MB | $27 +$5.50 | ||
| Jul – 900 MB | $27 +$5.50 | ||
| Aug – 800 MB | $24 +$5.50 | ||
| Sep – 1GB | $30 +$5.50 | ||
| Oct – 750 MB | $22.50 + $5.50 | ||
| Nov – 900 MB | $27 +$5.50 | ||
| Dec – 1GB | $30 +$5.50 | ||
| Total 10.35 GB | Total cost over 2 years is $456 for 24GB |
Total cost over 1 year is $360 for 24GB |
Total cost over 1 year is $376.5 +$99 (modem) |
So it seems that Pay As You go Plans have a place if your usage is quite irregular. The figures would be quite different and much more in favour of the PAYG model if there was a couple of months of very little or no usage thrown in over the course of the year. This could be quite practical if you used the plan for work. Obviously prepaid can also be controlled this way (by not recharging) however the difficulty with prepaid is that if you don’t use your data quota within the month you lose it. This model charges you for only what you use.
You can check out the Spin Internet Pay As You Go plan here.
