How to curb kids’ mobile phone data costs

NEARLY all teenagers want a mobile — or have one already. Here’s how parents can manage the cost when they go over their monthly plans.

NEARLY all teenagers want a mobile. Here’s how a parent can manage the cost.

THE TOP TIP

First, consider going prepaid. That’s the key piece of advice from the person who deals with all the complaints, Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Judi Jones.

It’s also the view of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network.

“A prepaid plan may be a good option for a teenager because there’s no risk of bill shock,” said ACCAN spokesman Luke Sutton.

VALUE EQUATION

Many people think prepaid plans don’t offer the same value as postpaid, but according to the reputable comparison service Canstar, you can get about the same amount of included data on pre- and postpaid plans for $30 to $40. Check out their full report here.

GO TO SCHOOL

The Federal Government’s MoneySmart service has prepared classroom lessons for year 9 and 10 students on the hidden traps of mobile phones and how to avoid them. Only one in two schools teaches MoneySmart lessons. Any parent can. Here are two of the lesson plans, Avoiding Phoney Deals and Mobile Phone Ownership.

Daniel Graham has the same problem many parents do: his children over-use data on their mobile phone, he is pictured with his daughter Georgia. Picture: Chris Pavlich

TIME TO TALK

ACCAN advises setting expectations around how and when they can use the phone and that both the parent and the child should know the monthly allowances and how to track these so they aren’t exceeded.

POSTHASTE

While postpaid can be more convenient because the parent does not have to do top-ups, but there can be nasty surprises. On both types of services it’s important to track a child’s consumption. But this is particularly true for postpaid. Monitoring is relatively easy because all providers have to send usage notifications, starting when 50 per cent is reached. If that happens early in the month, the parent should consider talking to the child, perhaps warning of consequences if 100 per cent is reach before the end of the month.

MODEL CHILD

Some providers offer calculators that allow data usage to be estimated. This sounds great in theory, but a teen’s mobile use will likely be wildly different to their parents’ and therefore difficult to model accurately. So it’s important to take another look at what they are actually consuming after a couple of months’ usage. It may be necessary to increase or decrease the included data limit, or to have a serious chat.

CUTTING CONSUMPTION

ACCAN has some excellent tips for using less data, such as turning off “push notifications”, changing settings in apps such as Facebook and Instagram so videos don’t automatically start, and adjusting your Wi-Fi settings so that some apps do not run over the mobile network.

Originally published as How to curb kids’ mobile phone data costs