Make what you will of the show (I don’t watch it myself) but they do have a quarterly swing at the large telcos by sourcing some very cheap plans to make you all aware of. Isn’t that my job. Kidding..

On tonight’s show they featured both Live Connected and Amaysim as competitive alternatives to the larger Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. Are they? Of course they are, the business model is totally different. Live Connected has very competitive plans (I am a customer myself and was drawn by the pricing), but as rightly pointed out, there is no call centre. It is all DIY online or via email. You have to be comfortable that the $20 a month you save is worth it.

Amaysim also has very competitive plans, the As You Go and the Unlimited are both very popular plans on our site. I see the traffic to their pages and the clicks to their website everyday. Outside of Optus and Telstra they are probably the most popular plans on my site.

Amaysim are a small player and have been around for just over a year now. Made a big splash when they arrived and have continued to invest a lot of money in advertising. From what I can see, it is still working. Not sure how many people are also moving away. From all reports they seem to have a good reputation.

Enjoy the video.

Newsletter Issue – 52

2012 is barely two weeks old and already Savvytel and Crazy Johns have launched important changes to their prepaid mobile and sim only range.

With school now weeks away, we take a look at some options if you are looking for a good plan for a child’s phone and we conclude this issue with some tips and important reference sites when dealing with cyber-bullying.

SAVVYEXTREME REVIEW & GIVEAWAY

In our last issue for 2011 we covered the range of unlimited prepaid mobile plans on offer. It proved to be a bit of hit with our readers. Savvytel has launched their own unlimited mobile plan. I have classified it as a sim only plan on our site because it doesn’t have the exact features of a prepaid offer (namely you can spend more than the monthly amount). Nevertheless, it comes with no contract so you have the flexibility to stay or go as you please. For $38 per month you receive unlimited mobile and fixed line calls to any network, plus unlimited Txt, MMS and voicemail. With it you also receive a huge 4GB of data. This is a very competitive offer, equal to in many respects the popular Amaysim Unlimited offer. Compare all Unlimited Sim Only plans here.

Savvytel is giving one lucky reader a chance to win a free sim card and one month’s free unlimited Calls and Txt. That’s is right, free unlimited calls for a whole month. To enter, all you need to do is tell me why deserve to win it. Enter here!

CRAZY JOHNS FLAT CHAT

Crazy Johns have started the new year with a bang, extending the credit expiry of its lower recharge FlatChat vouchers to 90 days as well as adding unlimited talk to Crazy Johns mobiles and 500MB bonus data to each of its Flat Chat recharge offers. Crazy Johns Flat Chat offers 10c per minute calls with a 10c flagfall. So a 2 minute call will cost you just 30c. The lower recharge vouchers of $15 and $25 previously offered 30 and 60 days expiry respectively, these have now been extended to 90 days.  Data was 3c/MB with no allowance included, it now sports 500MB (GPRS). Finally no free calls where available (it was that cheap to call them anyway), you can now call other Crazy Johns mobile users for free as much as you like.

BACK TO SCHOOL SPECIALS

Earlier this week, I received an email from a visitor to our site who was after a phone and prepaid mobile plan for his 12 year old. I am sure there are plenty of people in the same situation wondering which way to go. These are the tips I gave regarding the phone and the plans:

• An unlocked phone will give you access to any prepaid mobile plan, but you will need to find one either online or via a tech retailer. Alternatively buy a prepaid phone from a Telco as well as a prepaid plan to go with it. If from a Telco, you will need to spend a minimum recharge amount (usually up to $100) in order to unlock it.

• If you truly think that your child is only going to make the occasional call or Txt, then head for a prepaid plan with a long expiry, this will ensure that your credit lasts and you aren’t recharging and potentially losing credit or accumulating credit that you will never use. Aim for a minimum of 90 days.

• The trade-off with prepaid is that you can either buy a prepaid plan which has a very low call/Txt costs eg 10c/min or a plan (Prepaid Cap Plan) which gives you quite a bit of call credit for your recharge. Which is better depends on your usage. If you will use the phone a lot and are prepared to recharge $30 (30 days), then a Cap Plan is probably better, if not, go for the cheaper rates. Cheaper rates is where I would suggest you start.

• Obviously network coverage is important. If you live in the metro areas of one of our capital cities then they should all work fine. If you are in a semi rural area then be sure to check the coverage maps on the provider’s website.

• If you are already on a plan (prepaid or not) with a particular provider who offers you free calls to others with the same provider, then this is probably the way to go, particularly if their  prepaid plan range also offers this feature eg Virgin, gotalk or Vodafone, these plans offer some free calls to others also with them.

• Lastly, remember that with prepaid you don’t have a contract, so if you don’t like your original choice of plan, you can simply leave and go to another (ensure your phone is unlocked first).

• We have a range of great prepaid mobile plans for kids and their first phone, which you can compare.

STAMP OUT CYBER-BULLYING

Bullying these days has gone far beyond play ground teasing and pushing around. If you suspect your child has found themselves in a difficult situation, speak to them and their friends to get the facts then visit the school to ensure they know and will ACT. Don’t let them pass it off as a high school thing. By staying quiet the bullies will  get away with it.

Make sure the children in question and their parents know you are doing something about it.

Here are some websites that might be of help:

• http://www.theline.gov.au/
• http://www.cybersmart.gov.au
• http://au.reachout.com/
• http://www.kidshelp.com.au/
• http://www.bullyingnoway.com.au
• Vodafone Blog also has worthwhile articles

PREPAIDPLANS GIVEAWAYS

A big thank you goes out to gotalk who have been very kind throughout 2011, and I am sure 2012.

gotalk Aussie Extra Giveaway
The winners of our three gotalk (award winning) Aussie Extra sim kits are Carol, Sharon and Helga. Kits should have already arrived to our lucky winners.

gotalk Global Travel Sim Giveaway
Our three gotalk Global Talk Travel Sim prizes where won by James, Jarryd and Glen. Here is a sample of one of the winning entries:

“I will take my gotalk Global Travel Sim with me to my discovery of Europe. I know that I will be covered with great coverage and great rates. This will make life so much better as I know will have money to drink large amounts of European Beer and not have to come home to a large bill or load my life savings onto my pre paid account just to make a phone call or send a text on my trip. The best part is I will be able to call my girl friend every day in France and tell her what stupid things I saw. The Sim will come in very handy.”

ONLINE POLL

This month our online poll looks at how you recharge your prepaid mobile plan, whether it is on your phone, via the provider’s website or some other website. We would love your vote! Vote Now!

Till next time.
Arthur K

On Sunday evening as I was finalising the first prepaidplans.com.au newsletter for 2012, I thought wouldn’t it be great to launch into the new year with a giveaway. Having included a review of Savvytel’s new Savvyextreme plan in the newsletter, I emailed them asking for a sim kit with a free month’s access. Lionel from Savvytel, called me at lunch on Monday to advise that they were happy to give a sim kit away.

Savvytel’s Savvyextreme unlimited mobile calls plan gives you unlimited fixed line and mobile calls, unlimited standard Txts, MMS and unlimited voicemail for $38 each month. On top of this you also have 4GB of data to play around with.

The Savvyextreme prize is one month’s free access to Savvyextreme and comes with all of the unlimited services listed above plus 4GB of data.

To enter all you need to do is tell me why you should win it. Pretty easy. The most creative answer wins. Go to our PrepaidPlans Giveaways page to enter.

It is almost that time of year. Another few weeks and our lovely children return to school. For some it might be their first day at Primary or High School. If you are looking to purchase your child a phone so that they can have it with them at school, specifically when they are traveling to and from school, we have done much of the work for you. However instead of simply listing the plan, I want to share with you an email I received today from a father of a 12 your old who is looking to purchase his son a mobile phone.

I am obviously not going to share names etc, just the transcript of the exchange we had today:

Peter asked:
Hi I am looking to buy a pre paid mobile phone and associated plan for my son.
He is 12 yrs old and mainly needs the phone for contacting, calls, text, to other family members.
Could you advise the best phone and plan to suit this need.
Also advise where I would purchase from.

I replied:
Happy to assist. How many calls is your son likely to make in a day and are you or your partner on a particular plan or network at the moment?

Peter replied:
Not many calls. Prob more so texting and we will call him. I currently have an Optus $59 business plan

I replied:
You can purchase a prepaid phone either online or via one of the Telco retail or online stores. If you purchase a phone from a Telco store you will need to buy a sim card and prepaid mobile plan from them. This is so that you can spend the minimum amount with them in order to unlock the phone.

Given your son is only 12, you probably don’t want anything expensive just in case it is lost/stolen. Basic phones start from about $50.

The other alternative is to purchase it online via a store like mobicity or smoothmobiles. These guys sell mostly unlocked phones which means you can use any plan with the phone.

In terms of plans, given he will not do much calling and mainly Txt, then go with a plan which has a healthy expiry period for the credit. This page lists some of the better plans for kids: http://prepaidplans.com.au/2009/03/prepaid-mobile-kids-mums-grandma/#Kids

• Virgin has the BeanCounter which has cheap calls (10c) and Txt (10c), credit for this plan lasts 45 days. Virgin also has a plan called Long Expiry – 186 days, whilst the call rates on this plan aren’t cheap, $15 recharge will last for 186 days if unused. Virgin has a small selection of prepaid phones.
• Plans like Amaysim and Savvytel also offer good value but you need an unlocked phone to use them, ie you need to buy it unlocked or spend enough to unlock it. Both of these plans use the Optus network. Apparently Savvytel will work in a locked Optus. This is what they tell me.
• The Optus Connect 4 Less is Optus’ cheapest plan, 10c calls and 10c Txt, credit lasts for 30 days and the minimum recharge is $10. Optus has a good selection of prepaid phones.
• Gotalk is also a very cheap plan (cheapest around) but you need to unlock the phone to use it. They use the Vodafone network.
• CrazyJohns Flatchat is another very cheap plan with 1c Txt. Credit lasts 90 even with $15 recharge. These guys also sell prepaid phones. Crazy Johns uses the Vodafone network.
• Telstra’s Simplicity is again a cheap plan, if you recharge for $100 it lasts for 180 days. Calls and Txt are very cheap and they sell losts of prepaid phones.
• Finally we have the Vodafone 365 Plan. Vodafone are running a special back to school offer. If you recharge $30 with the 365 day plan, your credit will last the whole year but you can also make unlimited Vodafone calls for the whole year. Bare in mind call and Txt rates aren’t very competitive. Vodafone also sell a good selection of prepaid phones.

Hopefully this gives you some guidance. I suggest that you narrow it down to a couple or just pick one. Happy to answer any further questions you may have.

Remember that with prepaid you can simply swap plans at any time with no exit costs (just need to make sure the phone has been unlocked).

Just one further consideration that I like to add with plan for kids is that call offers provided by the likes of Vodafone and Crazy Johns where you can call other Vodafone, 3 or CrazyJohns customers can also be very useful with kids. If you are already with Vodafone for example then it would pay to also put your child on the same network so that you can take advantage of these calls. This also applies to free talk offers eg gotalk, Lebara, LycaMobile. Keep this in mind when you are deciding on the plan.

Crazy Johns have started the new year with a bang, extending the credit expiry of its lower recharge FlatChat vouchers to 90 days as well as adding unlimited talk to Crazy Johns and 500MB bonus credit to each of its Flat Chat recharge offers. Crazy Johns Flat Chat offers 10c per minute calls with a 10c flagfall. So a 2 minute call will cost you just 30c. The lower recharge vouchers of $15 and $25 previously offered 30 and 60 days expiry, this has now been extended to 90 days.  Data was 3c/MB with no allowance included, it now sports 500MB (GPRS). Finally no free calls where available (it was that cheap to call them anyway), you can now call other Crazy Johns mobile users for free as much as you like. Got to like 2012!

I usually cover these types of special offers via our fortnightly newsletter however it is on break till next week so I thought a post would get us by before then. There are a few special offers around at the moment, most of which are expiring at the end of January or February.

Virgin Bonus $1200 Credit
If you purchase $2, $5 or $29 sim pack and recharge with a $29 Your Cap before 31/1/12 you will receive $200 bonus credit each month for 6 months. Bonus recharge must be issued in total before 31/7/12.

Optus New Turbo Cap Plus – Unlimited Weekend Calls
Connect with the Optus New Turbo Cap Plus before 31/1/12 and stay connected for the entire year with minimum credit and you will receive unlimited weekend calls to Australian standard numbers. This includes national voice calls to mobiles, landlines and 1300/1800.

Amaysim – 20% off your first order
Sign up to the Amaysim Unlimited, As You Go or Mobile Broadband and activate before 31/1/12 and you will receive 20% off your first order.

Vodafone 365 Days Special Offer
Recharge with $30 on the 365 Day prepaid mobile plan by 29 February 2012 and get infinite standard national Vodafone to Vodafone calls for 365 days (standard voice calls within Australia). Must activate recharge by 29/02/2012.

Red Bull Mobile Access 7 Upgrade offer
Sign for a Red Bull Mobile Access 7 starter kit and get upgraded for free to an Access 30. Access 30 offers unlimited calls and text plus 4GB data. Credit lasts for 30 days and normally costs $39. Access 7 starter kit costs just $10.

Unlimited mobile plans have been the flavour 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.”

Vodafone has launched a Back to School offer via its popular 365 Day prepaid mobile plan. The plan normally comes with Flexi Credit and an amount of free talk in minutes to anyone on the Vodafone network, however until the end of February 2012, if you recharge $30 with the Vodafone 365 Day plan, you not only get the $30 of Flexi Credit but you also receive unlimited Vodafone calls for the entire 365 day period. The conditions are that you need to recharge $30 before the 29/2/2012 in order to take advantage of this offer.

The 365 Day plan gives you 39c per 30 sec calls plus a 35c flagfall. Txt are 28c and data is $2 per MB charged per 25KB.

Learn more about the Vodafone prepaid mobile offers here. For more deals for students check out our Kids Phone Plans page.

The most appealing thing about Hello Mobile is the 0c per minute local calls. You can’t get lower than that and with a 29c flagfall, it also makes them one of the

Hello Mobile

cheapest going around. Hello Mobile can be found in many convenience stores around town, with their posters plastered on shop windows. They are also in 7 Eleven and Caltex service stations. The Supa Plan comes with free calls to fixed line and mobiles. A 10c flagfall applies to Hello Mobile calls and a 29c flagfall to other numbers. The Saver plan offers free calls to Hello Mobile numbers (10c flagfall applies), 5c calls to anyone else witth a 35c flagfall. All calls are rounded up to the nearest 5c.

SMS via the Supa plan is 10c to any national mobile and international mobile number, whilst the Saver plan has the offer at 15c.

Both the Supa and Saver Plans offer very good value, even their data rates are very good at 3c per MB. Having read about them in several forums they appear to be receiving generally good feedback when it comes to value. The main focus for Hello Mobile is international calls from their sim, which they offer pretty competitive rates for but bare in mind much of it is promotional rates which comes with an expiry date.

I recommend you also review their terms and conditions. Some of the additional non usual charges are quite high like sim replacement at $30 or port out fee of $8. So there are some hidden extras which goes to show that nothing is totally free.

There is prepaid and then there is a month to month contract that you might prepay but it isn’t exactly prepaid. Lets define prepaid.

• You pay an upfront amount for an agreed amount of credit covering calls, Txt and data.
• Once this credit is used up you can no longer use these services until you recharge.
• Your credit has a set expiry time frame, which can be 7 days up to 365 days. In some cases your credit may never actually expire.
• The key thing is that if you use up your credit, you can’t keep spending, you have protection.

Then there are sim only or BYO phone plans which are actually month to month plans which have no formal contract. You can leave whenever you like just pay out what you owe. These plans come with a monthly charge will offers you credit for calls, Txt and data. Once you use this credit up you can actually keep using the service, however your credit card or bank account will be charged for the difference (on top of the monthly charge).

There is no real protection here for excessive usage, however you can leave the provider should you find the value not meeting your expectations.

Savvytel today launched Savvy Extreme. This new plans offers unlimited calls and Txt to local fixed line and mobile number plus 4GB of data. What the unlimited offer doesn’t cover is 1300, 1500 and 1800 calls, these are charged at 29c/min. International calls and Txt are also not included as isn’t premium SMS.

Savvy Extreme will cost you just $38 per month, which is actually a very good offer when you compare it the other “Unlimited” plans out there. Savvytel have actually called this a “prepaid” plan, however please note that if you spend more than the allocated data or on 1300/1800 numbers you will be charged extra for this. Therefore although it is $38 a month, it might actually come to more.

I like the plan, it is competitive in its space and I am sure it will do well. Savvytel FYI also use the Optus network, the same way Amaysim does. I can’t personally call it “prepaid” and so you can find it in our “Sim Only” section.