More Australians dump calls for texts as cheaper phone deals emerge

Australians would rather send a text to family and friends than call - but many don’t know they could be on a better phone deal. See how you can save.

Text messages have overtaken our preferred way of talking to each other, with more than one in three people revealing they would rather send a text message to family and friends than call.

Just one third of people said they still preferred an old-fashioned phone call, according to a survey of our phone habits.

And while Optus may have recently seen a 10 per cent exodus in customers due to the hacking scandal, most people surveyed by Boost Mobile found they have been with their existing providers for three years or more, with those aged between 45 and 64 proving most loyal.

The world’s largest youth-focused telco brand also found 90 per cent of Australians have made changes to their purchasing habits because of cost of living pressures, with many reviewing grocery and petrol purchases.

Petrol and transport costs are high on the lists of concerns for most Australians. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Few people shop around for better mobile phone plans. Picture: iStock

Daily groceries was the biggest concern facing nearly 80 per cent of Australians, followed by petrol/transport (61 per cent), electricity (57 per cent), cost of rent/mortgage (55 per cent) and mobile phone-related costs (20 per cent).

And the growing financial stress has left nearly 12 per cent of those surveyed in metropolitan areas admitting they cannot sleep, while it has affected nearly 17 per cent of people in regional areas.

Boost Mobile general manager and chief marketing officer Jason Haynes said the findings exposed the “significant financial hardship” facing Australians which “may be going unreported”.
“Despite mobile phone costs being of concern to many Australians, the majority have not reviewed or changed their mobile phone provider,” Mr Haynes said.

Jason Haynes of Boost Mobile. Picture: Supplied

EFTM chief executive Trevor Long. Picture: Supplied

Technology expert and EFTM chief executive, Trevor Long, said the death of the landline and decline in calls, especially among the younger generations, “isn’t surprising”.

For those aged 25-34, texts was used the most (35 per cent), while 24 per cent of people in this age group preferring to communicate through Facebook Messenger.

“Just think about how often you see kids talking on a phone, you don’t see it. A phone call today is more likely to be an emergency of some sort than anything else,” Mr Long said.

“The simplicity of a text, the ability to text in groups, share images, GIFs, memes, location is just far better than trying to convey those things via phone call.

“When you add the competitive drive of likes and comments on social media, it becomes more compelling as they have a metric for their engagement which can be addictive in many ways.”

The simplicity of using a mobile to text, text in groups, share images, GIFs, memes and location is, for many, far better than trying to convey those things via a phone call. Picture: iStock

Mr Long said the “staggering loyalty of Australians” is costing them money and believes people should be switching providers at least once a year.

“People are complacent, that monthly bill is a necessity and strangely it’s not looked at in the same way that petrol is,” he said.

“When petrol prices go up, it’s a story. But when people are wasting money on mobile plans, it’s just the way it is.

“Most people say that they are chasing better coverage, or more reliable service, when in fact of the 40 odd telcos you can choose from, there are just three networks,” Mr Lond said.

Last week, Boost Mobile took out Finder.com.au’s top award for “Best Prepaid Plan” for “strikes a great balance between data and price”.

“Boost Mobile is on the full Telstra mobile network, delivering one million square kilometres more than any other network, so there is an easy, cost-saving option available to millions of Australians right now especially if there are people questioning their current network provider,” Mr Haynes said.

Cheapest plans available on Canstarblue.com.au:

• Moose Mobile 8.80 SIM-only postpaid plan – $8.80 per month, 1GB data, 300 mins standard national calls, unlimited standard national SMS
• Flip 3GB SIM postpaid plan – $9.90 per month, 3GB data, unlimited standard national calls & SMS
• Circles. Life $10 SIM-only postpaid plan – $10 per month, 5GB data, unlimited standard national calls & SMS
• Catch Connect 4GB $10 30 Days prepaid plan – $10 per 30 day expiry period, 4GB data, unlimited standard national calls & SMS
• Southern Phone Small postpaid plan – $10 per month, 2GB data, unlimited standard national calls & SMS

Cheapest plans with 10GB data minimum available on Canstarblue.com.au:

• Catch Connect 18GB $15 30 Day prepaid plan – $15 per 30 day expiry period, 18GB data, unlimited standard national calls & SMS
• Kogan Mobile $15 Medium prepaid plan – $15 per 30-day expiry period, 10GB data, unlimited standard national calls & SMS
• Southern Phone Small Plus postpaid plan – $15 per month, 10GB data, unlimited standard national calls & SMS
• Flip 20GB SIM postpaid plan – $19.90 per month, 20GB data, unlimited standard national calls & SMS
• Tangerine 10GB Mobile SIM postpaid plan – $19.90 per month, 10GB data, unlimited standard national calls & SMS

You can compare your mobile plan here.

Originally published as More Australians dump calls for texts as cheaper phone deals emerge