
Optus is increasing prices on its prepaid recharges from April 28, with all 28-day expiry plans going up by $4 per month. All prepaid plans will also receive larger data allowances, however.
Here's the complete breakdown of how Optus prepaid mobile plans are changing:
| Expiry | Current price | New price | Old data allowance | New data allowance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 days | $12 | $13 | 3GB | 5GB |
| 28 days | $35 | $39 | 20GB | 25GB |
| 28 days | $45 | $49 | 30GB | 35GB |
| 28 days | $55 | $59 | 40GB | 45GB |
| 186 days | $160 | $180 | 80GB | 90GB |
| 365 days | $320 | $350 | 200GB | 220GB |
In addition, Optus will remove speed caps from all 28-day recharges and increase the speed cap on all other plans from 150Mbps to 250Mbps. Uncapped plans can achieve download speeds as fast as network conditions allow. On the Optus 5G network, we've been able to achieve speeds over 600Mbps.
An Optus spokesperson told WhistleOut the telco will be communicating these changes to customers via SMS and email this month.
"We understand that unexpected expenses can make it difficult to manage payments," said the spokesperson. "Our team is here to help, and we encourage any customers experiencing financial hardship to contact us."
Optus is also making changes to AutoRecharge. Customers who have AutoRecharge switched on will now also have "Low Balance AutoRecharge" as a standard feature. Low Balance AutoRecharge automatically recharges the plan when a customer's data allowance drops below 200MB. Low Balance AutoRecharge can no longer be turned off.
Optus will also remove the bonus 5GB of data customers get for having AutoRecharge turned on.
While more data on Optus' prepaid plans may be welcome for some - especially on the long-expiry options - it may be overkill for many. According to the ACCC's most recent Internet Activity Report, prepaid customers are only using an average of 9.3GB per month. For those customers, paying more for extra data may not make sense.
There are of course a number of smaller providers on the Optus network with cheaper plans and lower data allowances. Here are the cheapest options in the WhistleOut database:
And for comparison, here are the cheapest mobile plans on the Telstra and Vodafone networks:
Optus and Vodafone now have a network-sharing agreement that means Vodafone network customers now get Optus coverage in regional and rural Australia. A such, the Vodafone network now covers 98.4% of the Australian population - just 0.1% less than Optus.
These are the most popular NBN 50 plans with WhistleOut users this week:
Alex Choros