Selecting a mobile plan that’s right for you

What is a mobile plan?

To use a smartphone, you need to have a mobile phone plan from a provider, such as Telstra, Optus or Vodafone. These plans have a monthly cost and allow you to make calls and access, or browse, the internet. Some mobile phone plans can include the cost of the phone handset in the monthly price.

Included calls and text

Your mobile phone plan will include an amount of calls measured in minutes, and a number of texts. The more expensive your plan, the more call time and texts you can use per month.

Some plans let you make as many calls as you like to Australian numbers, and send as many texts as you like too. These are called Unlimited plans.

Included data

Your mobile plan will include an amount of data to use on the mobile data network. This is measured in gigabytes. The more expensive your plan, the more data is included. Some plans include unlimited data, but these tend to be very expensive.

You can learn more about data in the All about data topic.

Calling overseas

Calling overseas using a mobile phone is charged differently, and costs depend on the country you are calling. Some mobile phone plans include a limited number of overseas phone minutes, also called roaming minutes.

Only the most expensive mobile phone plans offer unlimited overseas calls. You can learn more about using your phone for international travel in the Going overseas course.

eSafety tip

Using a mobile to call overseas is expensive, but luckily there are many apps you can use instead. These apps will use up your data allowance, so it’s best to make your calls at home where you can use data from your home Wi-Fi, which is much cheaper.

You can even make video calls overseas using apps like Facetime on iPhone, or Google Meet on Android. There are other video calling apps you can download from your device’s official app store.

Top tips for choosing a plan

• If you already have a mobile phone, a prepaid or BYO plan tends to be cheaper because you are not paying for the handset at the same time.
• If you use your mobile phone to make a lot of calls within Australia, or you no longer have a landline at home, a plan with unlimited calls may be slightly cheaper than your old landline plan.
• Mobile data is expensive compared to the data that comes with your home internet connection. If you don’t use your phone for the internet while out and about, choose a plan that comes with a small amount of data and connect your smartphone to your home Wi-Fi to use the internet at home.

You can learn more about choosing a plan in the Choosing a data plan course.

Well done!

You’ve completed the Selecting a mobile plan that’s right for you activity, and learned what you should consider when choosing a plan from a network provider.

If you’re a registered user, you can now complete a short quiz to test your learning. If you’re not registered, this is now the end of the What is a smartphone? course.