In this week’s Woolworths catalogue I noticed a new service being promoted by Amaysim called the Amaysim Prepaid Unlimited Recharge Card. It looks and works like a prepaid gift card, in that once you have purchased it, you link the card to an Amaysim mobile number (linked to an Amaysim Unlimited prepaid plan) and then each time you need to recharge your unlimited plan you simply present it at a retail outlet, they scan the card and apply the credit you have paid for.

Benefits:
No vouchers are needed.
No applying the voucher to your account so it saves one step in that two step process.
Quick and easy.

Doubts:
Outside of Woolworths not sure about who else is offering this service, but assume it will grow in popularity.

Telstra is pushing to grow its 4G customer numbers and so the 3G modems are being discounted in pretty much every retailer that stocks them as well as directly from the Telstra website and retail stores. For $39.50 you can pickup a 3G Elite Wifi Modem with 5G data and 30 days to use it. So I did.The Wifi modem itself is almost as big as a mini mobile phone and will provide connection with up to 5 devices at the same time, ie they can all share the data on the device. Inside the box you have the device, lots of instructions and the sim card (actually already installed for you).First step is to activate the sim card. This can be completed online or via the phone. I ended up having to partly complete the process online and then due to some error I spoke to Telstra via Online Chat and had the sim activated.

I wish Telstra would send you an email or sms advising you that this step has now been completed. What they tell you is that it will take between 5 mins and 24 hours. So if you are in a hurry it can be a little frustrating.

The second part is logging into your wifi network. What you are purchasing here is a network of your own, controlled by the password that Telstra provide you with. Inside the packaging you receive is a glossy card with several key details. First is the name of the Wifi Network eg TEHS_BCA9XX, the second is the Wireless Security Key (WPA). This is your 10 digit password.

In order to connect, you need to turn the Wifi function on your digital device on. This will then trigger it to list the Wifi Networks in your area that you can potentially dial into. In my case, I found the above network. I then needed to enter the Wireless Security Key and I joined the network.

I tested it on my iPad, laptop and mobile phone and the process was very similar regardless of whether you have a Mac or Android device. The device will remember these details the next time you wish to turn it on.

In my testing I linked three devices quickly and easily the speed was reasonable across them all, whilst they where all connected. Mind you the time was about 8pm, which is peak our for mobile broadband use.

The key to setting up, activating and connecting is the glossy card has all of the key data listed on it.

You can see the speedtest on the right, this is what I achieved on an iPad 2 at about 8.30pm.

The next step for me is to unlock it. In order to manage the device, Telstra provide you with an online portal through which you can change the device’s settings and potentially APN should you wish to use an alternate network sim card eg Optus or Vodafone.

Let me say from the outset that anything to save customers money on international roaming is a good thing, but there are much better options than using your existing sim card to travel with. Buy an international roaming sim card or a local prepaid sim card when you arrive.

Below is an announcement from Telstra on the new alert service they are launching:

Telstra has introduced an SMS alert system designed to minimise bill shock by keeping customers informed of how much data they are using whilst travelling overseas.

Tim Webber, Director, Telstra Mobile said the new SMS alerts would be sent for every 20 megabytes (MB) of data used overseas*.

“A growing number of our customers are taking their mobile devices overseas to access their emails, get live maps and stay connected to their favourite social networks while travelling,” Mr Webber said.

“While most travelers will have booked in vaccinations, organised their passport and bought travel insurance, many don’t think to check in with their mobile provider about international roaming.

“To help customers manage their data costs, we will now automatically send our customers data usage alerts via SMS every time they roam overseas.

“These will be sent each time 20MB of data is used overseas and is designed to keep our customers informed of how much data they are using whilst travelling.”

Mr Webber said Telstra had also recently increased the value included in its International Casual Traveller Data Packs, which come with pre-purchased allowances to help keep roaming costs managable.

“Not only have we doubled the included data in these packs but we’ve also doubled, to a total of 50, the eligible countries in which customers can use them, by adding popular international destinations including India, Ireland and Vietnam”.

Mr Webber said Telstra had worked to make sure customers were better informed about roaming charges before and while they were overseas.

“As smartphones and tablets become even more mainstream, we’re finding some later adopters are less likely to know about data charges – both in Australia and overseas. 

“Before flying out we encourage our customers to contact us and make sure they are fully informed about all potential costs and charges of international roaming.

“The last thing we want is for customers travelling overseas to return home to an unexpected bill that costs as much as their night in a New York hotel room.”

As many people have rightly pointed out, 20MB of international roaming data will cost you over A$300, however if you buy a data pack from Telstra, 20MB costs $30. My issue is, how long do you think 20MB will actually last you? If you are serious about using data overseas then look at alternative options.

Sylvia contacted me just over a month ago regarding mobile sim options for her two sons who where just about to travel overseas with some friends. Having heard that roaming charges can result in huge bills when you return from your break she wanted to do the right thing and empower them with a sim card that would enable them to use their phones whilst overseas as well as use the internet so that they could stay in touch and follow the much anticipated journey.

Below I have a thread of emails that we exchanged over a period of days that enabled Sylvia to eventually end up with the right product. The great news is that the choice of product was right and whilst the final savings aren’t known, there are savings compared to the alternatives.

As ou will see, it is not all roses trying to get yourself setup with an international roaming service, unlocking phones, sim sizes, roaming settings, it can be a little confusing and leaving it to a few days before you travel probably doesn’t reduce anxiety.

21/3 – The initial enquiry

Hi Arthur

I’ve been trying to find a solution for something and it just occurred to me that you’re the right person to ask!

My sons are going overseas on the weekend and I desperately want them to have at least one phone between them that has a sim that I can contact them on if necessary. I don’t want my boys using their regular sims for obvious reasons … too many incoming calls and texts which will cost heaps.

I thought the best solution would be to get a prepaid sim for one of them to share. The number would be unknown to all their friends but I’d be able to communicate back and forth with them. I realise a local sim in each country would be cheaper but to be honest, they will only need their phone for emergencies, perhaps a daily text to and from me and MAYBE a bit of data in case they need to look up maps. I understand they will have to use global roaming but I’m happy to pay for that for my peace of mind.

Can you recommend anything? We’re all with Optus. Do you think they should just take a prepaid Optus sim with them and keep it in the phone?

Oh … the countries they’re going to are Singapore (3 days), Italy, Slovenia, Turkey (several weeks for Europe) and Dubai (5 days).

I’d love to hear from you in time to buy it tomorrow. Thanks, Arthur!

21/3 – My Response

Sylvia, if you take an Optus sim with you, the credit will not last very long and roaming charges will be applied to the prepaid sim. For cheaper rates you can buy an international sim card. There are a few to choose from but not sure they are all in retail outlets. Try travelsim and woolworths global roaming. They also come with another number and a guide on how to use them. Your kids can then use this sim card to make local and international calls. It is most likely that a calling card will work best when oseas for long calls home or skype if they have computer access.

Travelsim should be able to be picked up from 7eleven or Allphones stores.

Woolworths is obviously at the supermarket.

http://www.woolworthsglobalroaming.com.au/

Let me know if you have any other questions.

21/3 – Doing the research

Thank you SO much, I really appreciate that. I’d been looking closely at RoamingSIM but Woolworths is cheaper! Now I just have to see if I can pick one up at my local Woolies tomorrow, or settle for a RoamingSIM from Officeworks.

Your website is incredibly helpful. Even before you responded, I actually found the info I needed (though no mention of Woolworths) and started my research. I should have contacted you much sooner and by now I would have everything in order. But thanks anyway for responding so promptly. I’ll let you know what I end up going with. Meanwhile, I’m organising Find My iPhone and Find My iPad which I’m sure will be very enlightening, and fun to do each day to see where they are, especially as it provides a satellite view as well.

22/3 – Where to buy

Hi Sylvia, RoamingSim is good as well I didn’t realise they were in Officeworks or I would have recommended them too.

In terms of pricing, the difference is minimal unless you are going to do lots and lots of calls. These services work well. As I mentioned calling cards are probably cheapest for longer calls and you can pick them up from any convenience store.

I have added Woolworths after I sent you the email. The problem with adding more options is that I then need to maintain it and for many people, too many options means more confusion.

23/3 - Just learned that woolworths sim doesn’t work with iphone5, any other suggestions?

23/3 – Try travelsim https://www.travelsim.net.au/Shop/

23/3 – Global Roaming Settings

No problem; I found travelsim myself but appreciate your reply. It’s quite a bit more expensive than the WW one but I’m happy for my sons to have contact. Travelsim’s customer service via phone was exceptional and I’m really pleased with it. Still have another couple of questions to ask them tomorrow.

Would you happen to know, do they have to have global roaming enabled on their phone to use these cards? Is that something in settings or to do with Optus, their usual carrier?

28/4 – Happy Ending

That’s really kind of you to check in. My elder son returned from the trip just two weeks in and his Woolworths card was excellent the whole way through. My younger son is currently in Turkey, heading for Dubai some time next week and then home on the 10th May. He has the Travelsim nanosim and it’s been excellent too. It was difficult trying to keep up with whose card did what most economically (e.g. Woolworths sim gets charged for incoming calls, Travelsim receives incoming calls for free) but now there’s only one to be concerned about so it’s fine.

Really happy with both of them for different reasons. Thanks so much for your help when I really needed it

Telstra this week launched their first serious sim only monthly mobile plans.

The new No Lockin Plans are built on the existing Every Day Connect BYO plans and look something like this.

• $40 No Lock-In $300 calls (126, 2min calls), No unlimited nights or weekends, 250MB data THIS OPTION IS NOT BEING PROMOTED
• $60 No Lock-In $600 in calls, (252, 2 min calls), Unlimited TXTs, No unlimited nights or weekends, 1GB data
• $80 No Lock-In $800 in calls, (336, 2 min calls), Unlimited TXTs, Yes to unlimited nights, No unlimited weekends, 1.5GB data
• $100 No Lock-In $900 in calls, (378, 2 min calls), Unlimited TXTs, Yes to unlimited nights and weekends, 2GB data
• $130 No Lock-In Unlimited calls and TXTs, 3GB data

If you join before 1 July, Telstra will give you a bonus 1GB of data on top of what is already on offer.

Telstra charges a 40 cent connection fee per call to Australian mobiles or landlines, plus 99 cents a minute or part thereof (so a 2-minute call costs $2.38). Most of the plans included unlimited SMS to Australian numbers. Excess data is $0.10 a megabyte. Unlimited night calls apply between 7pm and 7am; ‘unlimited WE’ refers to unlimited weekend calls.

If you really want Telstra but not the new phone or the contract then these are a reasonable option but you could also consider Telstra prepaid. For $50 buys your $1000 in calls/TXT credit plus unlimited calls between 6pm and 6am every night. In terms of data you get 800MB charged per KB. Credit lasts for 30 days, so I would think that this would be a much better option.

gotalk have launched a new way to access discount national and international calls. Ezichat works by bypassing your providers calling rates and giving you access to cheap calling rates. You keep your fixed line provider which you continue to use for your local calls and any connection calls, Ezichat then steps in for your national (interstate), mobile and international calls.

Ezichat involves purchasing a new fixed line phone (not phone line or service provider) and selecting a calling card of your choice (needs to be one of the many calling cards offered by gotalk) for your international calls.

What is also great about this service is that it is prepaid, so you will only ever use what you pre-purchase ensuring that you will never over-spend.

What does the servie offer?

• Discount calls to mobile phones – 24.9c/min for mobile phone calls for the first 2 hours. A 20c connection also applies.
• Discount calls to internet locations - These calls are offered at a low rate of 25c maximum of two hours. So you can call anywhere in Australia for 2 hours for only 25c (local call cost will apply).
• Discount international calls – choose from one of the many international calling card options being offering including Day Break and Cheap Talk.
• Local Calls – these will be charged by your existing line rental provider at their agreed rates.

What does it cost. $50 will get you your handset and $20 credit. Ongoing credit is then pre- purchased. What is important is setting yourself up with a very affordable line rental company which charges a very small monthly line rental charge.

These are the terms and conditions to consider.

To access the gotalk Ezichat Landline service, you must call the applicable VIP phonecard access number, and separately pay your fixed or mobile telephone service provider for the cost of connection to that access number.

Line rental and local call costs will still be charged by your existing provider. Local call costs apply to all calls. Calls charged based your linked phonecard, including call connection fees (to a landline). An additional charge of 20c will apply to each call made to Australian mobiles. Unused stored value on a phonecard is not redeemable or refundable.

50c weekly service fee applies (Happy Calling & Hot incur $1 weekly service fee). Additional charges such as daily fees, service fees, or surcharges may apply in accordance with the standard rates and charges for the phonecard to which your Ezichat Landline service is linked.

Your phonecard will expire if it is not recharged for a minimum of $10 every six months. If your card expires, then a maximum of $5 administration fee applies to reactivate the retired phonecard.

The game of offering then removing their sim only month to month plans is something that Optus knows all too well. They have had monthly mobile plans for years its just that they seem to turn them on and off rather regularly.

In late 2012 following the launch of the Apple iPhone 5, Optus decided that they would launch their Nano sim plans make them available to anyone who wanted access to the Optus 4G network and had purchased an iPhone 5 outright.

For $30, the plans offered $200 in credit ($2.15, 2 min call) and 200MB of data. For $50, they offered $500 in call credit and 1GB of data. The rest of the range was just as uncompetitive. The only real benefit was access to 4G speeds.

What changed this week is that Optus have renamed this range to Sim Only plans and cut the range down to 3 plans, one of which is actually a 12 month contract plan, not month to month at all.

Now for $20 you get $200 in calls and 200MB and for $40 you receive $500 in calls and 1GB data. The range ends there. So how well does it compete?

• Exetel offers $650 in calls, 1,5GB data (4G) and unlimited calls to Exetel for $39.95/mth
• Vaya Mobile offers Unlimited calls, 3GB data (4G) for $45/mth
• Live Connected offers $900 in calls, unlimited TXT, unlimited calls to Live Connected members and 2GB for $41/mth

So at the $40 level at worst the value is half of what you can buy elsewhere, which only means that the pricing is really a rip-off and rather disappointing given what the range of MVNOs is offering.

Skype have launched a range of prepaid calling cards that Australians can use to make direct calls to mobile and landlines anywhere in the world. The prepaid calling cards offer access to premium services like group video calling, and low rates on calls and texts to friends.

“Skype prepaid cards are a great choice for our users in Australia looking to get more from the Skype experience, either as a way to add Skype credit to their account or as a gift for friends and family to allow an easier way to stay in touch,” says Nick Gundry, Head of Market Development in Australia/New Zealand and Asia.

“The Skype credit can be used any time and on any device, making it as easy as possible to be together when apart.”

The cards are available now at BP petrol stations, Harvey Norman, Australia Post, and Allphones, with 7-Eleven offering customers 25 percent off the cards during the month of March. The cards values are either $10 and $25.

Skype credit gives users access to unlimited monthly calling plans, low per-minute calling rates to mobiles and landlines around the world, and other services like SMS messaging. The prepaid calling cards can be used alongside the free Skype-to-Skype audio and video calls.

Truphone on Monday announced plans to add a new network to its global GSM partnerships: it’s Wi-Fi. The new Truphone+ service will take advantage of wireless hotspots to broaden worldwide coverage and improve call quality. Currently, Truphone calls are supported through partner networks in more than 220 countries with a single SIM card; Truphone+ will routes call over the web.

“Truphone+ uses “intelligent routing” to automatically choose whether to carry the call over GSM or Wi-Fi by making real time measurement of signal quality. The user needs only to ‘press call’ to make a secure connection over the highest quality link available.”

Truphone’s new app will allow the user to control the voice experience as well as automatically choose the better connection type. And that can save some serious cash on roaming or other charges. The service also allows multiple numbers for a single SIM card; handy for separating work and personal calls or for having a local number in different countries.

Truphone+ supports smartphones and tablets running Apple iOS, Google Android and BlackBerry 10 smartphones and tablets.

Last month, ZDNet revealed that Turnbull had repaid a massive of AU$13,608.04 for use of his mobile device after a stint in Hong Kong, France, Germany, and the UK in late 2011. The bill had originally been charged to the taxpayer, however Turnbull paid the full amount back and was left to negotiate with Telstra over the size of the bill.

In the most recent update of his declaration on the Register of Members’ Interests on January 31, Turnbull said that he received a “GlobalGig wi-fi base station” with 1GB of data allowance, which he intends to trial on his next visit abroad.

The declaration also revealed that Turnbull is also loaning a T-box from Telstra and a 4G wi-fi hotspot from Optus, which is currently used by his staff. The loan of devices is not that unusual for a telco. The companies frequently loan out devices to journalists and reviewers.