Who offers the good (Great!) cell phone plans in Adelaide, Australia?

February 21, 2008 2:04 PM

Who offers the good (Great!) cell phone plans in Adelaide, Australia?

I've recently moved to Adelaide, in South Australia. After subsisting for a few months on overpriced pre-paid phone cards, it's time to make the jump to a real plan.

Service-wise, my requirements are fairly basic - I want to be able to text, have a voicemail service, chat to friends without signing over rights to my first-born child at the end of the month.

There's a bewildering array of proviers out there - Optus, Telstra, Three, to name a few, each and all claiming the best possible deal.
How's a girl to know?
Who is REALLY worth going to? Who offers good deals - and lives up to them? Offers reasonable service when service is required? Doesn't necessarily go the extra mile, but doesn't balk at the mile you've paid for.

posted by tabubilgirl to technology (6 comments total)

tabubilgirl, go back to prepay

Optus Telstra 3, Vodafone etc, and all come out to be about exactly the same. it comes down to who's offering the best handset/sweetners.

There is no Adelaide only carrier- as far as I know.
posted by mattoxic at 2:15 PM on February 21

I'm on prepay and it's served me alright, but I know 3 offer some good deals on contract. I know this isn't exactly the most helpful answer, but your best bet would probably be to wander down rundle mall and check out each store. Telsta, Optus and 3 all have shops there. As them each for their best plan, and work it out from there, I'd say.

Oh, and welcome to Adelaide! You're arrived just in time for the fringe, enjoy it!
posted by twirlypen at 2:34 PM on February 21

If you don't mind the 24month contracts, the $29 cap plans are pretty good value. I am very happy with the coverage and customer service from three.

Also have a look through the following forum to get an idea of customer satisfaction etc:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-threads.cfm?f=114

A bill calculator can help you find the cheapest plan if you know how many calls on average you make:
http://www.phonechoice.com.au/index.cfm?section=Mobile&details=plancalculator
posted by cwhitfcd at 3:18 PM on February 21

I haven't had experience with that many different carriers, because I've been with Optus now for...13 years, and have never changed because I'm happy with them. I lived in Adelaide for 11 of those 13 years.

At the moment, I'm on a 24-month $50-cap contract. That $50 cap gives me about $250 worth of calls a month I think, cheap SMS etc. They have always been good with service, have been tolerant of my late bill payments. Before my current cap plan I was on a $33 contract...the $50 cap is much, much better, and well worth the money.

Just sayin'.
posted by Jimbob at 4:54 PM on February 21

I work for a telco.
The cheapest deal depends heavily on who you call. I am married, and fully half my calling is to my wife. If you have a SO you call a lot, both of you should get on one of the Three contracts (say, $29 cap) which has lots of free short calls to other 3 users any time of day. You also would probably like their calls to any fixed line for 25c for the first 10mins.
This is the cheapest deal if you can keep track of your calling, and you don't exceed your cap in usage.
The best prepaid deal is Vodafone, but you *must* by your recharges in $100 blocks. If you buy $100 of mins, they cost half as much as if you buy in $25 or $50 increments. It also includes good free call minutes to other Voda users, and the credit lasts 6 months, so if you don't use much it takes a long time to expire.
Note, I don't work for either of these suppliers. If you are a very high (over $100 a month on prepaid) or very low (less than $10 a month) there are better options for you - mefimail me if that is the case.
Telstra will *never* offer the best value, at any plan (unless you are a registered charity ;-)
posted by bystander at 2:58 AM on February 22

I have a small business and usually have my office landline diverted to my mobile phone. I'm on the Optus $49 cap which gives me $300 worth of calls & SMS. Voicemail deposits & retrievals are free. My daughter's phone is on the same account, and as I have an ABN I qualify for the business "fleet" account which lets us call/SMS each other for no charge. I believe you can have up to 5 numbers in your "fleet".
It's great knowing that I'm paying a flat rate, as neither of us use anywhere near our $300 caps so I don't have heart failure when I open the bill (apart from one time when the teenager went beserk).
Just looking at my current bill, I made 173 calls (including fleet, voicemail & diversions) & sent 67 SMS - a value of $152, so used about half of my allowance on the $49 cap.
The teenager sent 54 SMS & made 43 calls - about $60 worth of charges.
As stated above, these are on 24 month contracts, but I've been with Optus ever since I got my first mobile phone around 1999 and they have always allowed me to upgrade a few months early. Call centre staff seem a bit clueless, but whenever I've had an issue, they eventually sort it out to my satisfaction. Overall, I'm very happy with them, especially since I've had the capped account.
posted by goshling at 4:16 AM on February 22