Australians go on the hunt for the cheapest smartphone plans

MANY Australians are changing to cheaper mobile deals that are booming in popularity as customers sign up for as little as just $10 or less per month.

BITE-sized mobile data offers are booming in popularity as customers sign up to 1GB deals for as little as just $10 or less per month.

For smartphone addicts this amount of data may seem minuscule but telcos say there is a strong appetite for small-serve mobile offers, particularly for first-time smartphone users and older Australians.

Telco comparison website WhistleOut’s Joseph Hanlon describes it as a “little scrum” of providers offering these cost-effective no lock-in contracts and many also come with unlimited calls and texts.

“These deals are popular with people who are beginning to use smartphones, so younger people getting their first phone or those avoiding the smartphone trend up until now,’’ he said.

Many telco users are signing up to small data deals to save themselves money.

“With the price they are really attractive to people who are budget sensitive however for some people 1GB won’t be enough.

“Even if you don’t use data, $10 a month to make unlimited phone calls to anyone in Australia is a great deal.”

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Mr Hanlon said 1GB will get conservative data users about three hours of YouTube videos per month, 12 hours of Facebook browsing or about 6.5 hours of music streaming.

Data can be chewed through quickly so it’s important you understand how much you need each month before signing up to a deal.

Telco Amaysim has more than 1.1 million customers and rolled out 1GB deals for $10 per month last year.

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Chief executive officer Julian Ogrin said about 42 per cent of Australian mobile consumers use less than 1GB of data.

“A lot of people have home broadband so they operate wi-fi at home and at work they use office wi-fi so a lot of people only use mobile data in between work and home,’’ he said.

“We now have a $10, $20, $30, $40 and $50 plan where customers can change plans every 28 days.”

Mr Ogrin said users can top up their data amounts at any time during the 28-day no lock-in contract deals and switch between offers when the four-week period is up.

Amaysim chief executive officer Julian Ogrin said tens of thousands of customers are signing up to bite-sized mobile deals.

Telco Moose Mobile’s chief executive officer Dean Lwin said older Australians are also signing up to mini deals including their $8 plan with 200 minutes of calls and unlimited SMS.

“Customers aged over 50 year of age represented a whopping 65 per cent of $8 plan users,’’ he said.

But he warns consumers need to think carefully about their data consumption before signing up to small phone data deals.

“People can get caught out if they underestimate their data usage so our advice to customers is usually to over-estimate their potential data or call usage and work backwards from there,’’ Mr Lwin said.

He urges consumers to ring or email their current provider, tell them what your phone consumption is and seek a better deal.

He said don’t wait for the telco to try and help you save because they are “very unlikely to be proactive in helping you save money.”

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