Competition is smoking hot in the prepaid mobile telco space, with unlimited talk, text and generous data pioneer Amaysim unveiling new plans with up to 14GB of data.
With Amaysim having pioneered the $40 unlimited voice and text plan with 4GB data all those years ago, things have come a long way since then.
Today’s prices deliver more unlimited talk to more countries, starting at much cheaper prices, while delivering ever larger amounts of data for the money.
It has seen Amaysim’s own Vaya brand seek to become the post-paid value leader, while igniting ferocious competition with Kogan Mobile, and even Vodafone itself now offering some 35 day plans rather than the 30 day and 28 day plans on the market.
And, while Vaya and Kogan offer even better pricing if you prepay several month blocks in advance, which make for extremely competitive offerings, the international calling inclusions for Amaysim will be the clincher for some, as would Optus having better regional coverage compared to Vodafone, even if both are bettered coverage-wise by Telstra.
So, what are Amaysim’s new plans and prices, what do they offer, and how do they compare with the previous plans?
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There are four new plans that are 10c more than their predecessors, but deliver great data upgrades and more international calling.
The previous $24.90 plan delivered unlimited talk and text, and unlimited calls to 10 countries, but only delivered 1.5GB of data.
The new $25 plan offers the same, but now gives you 2GB of data.
The previous $29.90 plan offered the same as the $24.90 plan, but gave you 3GB of data.
The new $30 plan ups your data to a much nicer 5GB.
The previous $39.90 plan gave you the same unlimited talk and text in Australia, and unlimited calls to 10 countries, with 7GB data. If you wanted to call even more countries, you had to get the more expensive Unlimited 7GB Plus plan.
Well, the new $40 plan gives you the same as the old $39.90 plan, but gives you 300 minutes of calls to 22 more countries, and upping the data inclusion to an impressive 10GB.
Then we get the old $49.90, which gave you the unlimited calls and texts in Australia, unlimited calls to 10 countries, 300 minutes to 22 more countries and 9GB of data.
The new $50 plan gives you all of that, but takes you to a whopping 14GB of data.
All of the plans are for 28 days each, on the Optus 4G network.
Naturally, Amaysim bills this as “bringing value and competition back to the Aussie mobile market.”
The company talks up the continuation of “its legacy as pioneers of no lock-in SIM-only mobile plans,” and clever notes that its “new offerings are amongst the most competitive non-promotional plans in the market, providing some of the best ‘dollar to data’ value of any of the major mobile players.”
Again, this is in the face of fierce competition, with Kogan Mobile offering similar pricing over 30 days, with similar gigabyte inclusions but no international calls.
Vodafone has similar pricing, too, with its top two new prepaid plans offering data inclusions almost as good, but at 35 days compared to Amaysim’s 28 days.
Naturally, you are advised to shop around and check out the prices, plans, data inclusions and more for yourself.
But that said, Amaysim does have a very complete offering that is nevertheless still excellent value, and will certainly keep existing and new customers very happy, showing that winning several Canstar Blue awards since 2013 through 2017 for customer satisfaction has clearly been no accident.
Amaysim’s Commercial Director of Mobile, Maik Retzlaff said: “We know that people are data hungry and usage continues to grow rapidly. In fact, mobile data usage increased by as much as 69% between FY15-16 [according to the ACMA Communications report 2015-16, Released Nov 2016] - that’s why we’ve upped the ante on all our data inclusions.”
“As usual, all our plans come with no lock-in contracts, making it easy for existing and new amaysim customers to pick the plan that’s right for them,” continued Retzlaff.
Amaysim also sought out telco expert, John de Ridder, who said: “The growth of smartphone data consumption is showing no sign of slowing down and contract plans and inclusions quickly become outdated in just one year. That means that the true value in mobile is now based on flexibility - it pays to take up a no lock-in contract.”
Alongside these highly competitive plans, amaysim proudly boasts of its continued aforementioned focus on “providing excellent customer experience across its online and app platforms.”
As noted above, Amaysim’s customer-first approach has been recognised yet again with the 2017 Canstar Blue award for Most Satisfied Customers - Mobile SIM Only; the fifth such award since 2013.
Retzlaff added: “Customers should not only look at the price of a mobile plan but also consider the whole package. We’re constantly listening to our customers to provide not only great value mobile plans but also a brilliant customer experience and service across all touch points. Having won the Canstar Blue award once again shows that we’re committed to championing our customers.”
Also, when I put it to Amaysim that it does have its strongest competition out there than ever before, regarding the players I mentioned above, Retzlaff responded: “In terms of the market, amaysim puts its customers at the heart of everything it does.
“These plans have been designed to deliver total value for the consumer by providing simple, flexible, no-lock plans, that are supported by exceptional customer experience, letting people dial their plans up or down between renewals if their data needs change over time.
“While there are other plans in market which tackle some of these features, amaysim is focused on delivering the whole package.”
So, there you go. If you’re still paying hundreds of dollars per month for the voice, text and data component of your mobile bill each month, you’re clearly paying too much.
Whichever provider you choose, we’re living in a golden age of effortless communication and connectivity, and with a plethora of pre-paid options and easy number porting, the most flexible phone and data communications packages ever available.
With so many words already in this article, never has there ever been a truer and more sincere statement changed to the positive by the passage of time that “talk is cheap”.
So, go on. Talk to your heart’s content, and with all that data, enjoy plenty of content, too!
