optus $50 business plan

Business vs personal mobile plans

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Have you ever wondered how ‘business’ mobile plans differ from ‘personal’ plans? 

Well, quite often for small businesses, the only significant difference is the name, according to our research.

We compared a number of business plans with equivalent consumer plans, and found some curious anomalies. In a couple of cases, for example, the fine print for ‘business’ mobile plans indicated they could only be used for personal use.

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At Optus, its $40 consumer plan provides unlimited standard national calls, unlimited SMS and MMS within Australia and to certain countries, and up to 300 voice minutes to those selected countries. Plus 7GB of data. 

And the $40 business plan? As far as we can see, the inclusions and terms are pretty much the same. The consumer plan rules out ‘non-ordinary’ or ‘commercial purpose use’ but bizarrely the critical information summary for the business plan makes the same exclusion.

So we turned to the Optus Fair Go policy for clarification.

“If you are a residential customer our services are for your personal use only,” the policy said.

“If you are a business customer, including a small to medium business customer, our services are for your use in the ordinary course of business.

“You may not use the service in a manner which is ‘unreasonable’ or ‘unacceptable’.”

That seems to mean that you aren't allowed to make or take business calls on a personal plan, or personal calls (“should I buy some milk on the way home?”) on a business plan.

An Optus spokesperson explained: “Our consumer plans are designed for personal use while our business plans are for use in the ordinary course of business plus some personal use where needed.

“We understand there will be certain circumstances where a customer needs to use their service outside its primary intended purpose. In these cases, we offer a level of flexibility for customers to make a judgement on what is reasonable and acceptable use of their service based on their contract.”

So the good news is that the way most of us use one plan for business and personal purposes is acceptable, providing the selected plan reflects the main use.

It might not be obvious from the everyday use of the terms, but Optus (and probably other carriers) distinguishes between ‘business’ and ‘commercial’ use. The company confirmed that ‘commercial use' refers to levels of voice or data use normally seen only in call centres, or to mobile data used to access enterprise-style services rather than those associated with micro to medium businesses.

And although the inclusions and price may be the same for consumer and business plans, “Our SMB plans offer a number of benefits for business customers including billing made out to your registered ABN for tax purposes, access to business specialists in over 120 of our retail stores, premium support from our dedicated SMB team when you bundle two or more services, and invitations to exclusive business events,” said the Optus spokesperson.

The Optus Fair Go policy does goes on to give several examples of unreasonable use, most of which seem quite reasonable, such as not allowing automatic diallers, resale and bulk messaging. But the prohibition on using a ‘mobile voice’ SIM card in a non ‘mobile voice’ device seems odd. What difference does it make to the carrier whether you tether a tablet to the phone or temporarily move the SIM from a phone to a tablet?

The reason, according to the Optus spokesperson, is that requiring separate SIMs “allows us to optimise their service for the device, the network and billing purposes”. Optus does allow data pooling between plans, but you’re up for at least $10 a month per additional device, though that does include 1GB of shareable data.

Over at Vodafone, it’s pretty much the same situation when it comes to distinctions between personal and business customers.

The $60 personal plan provides unlimited standard national calls, unlimited standard national and overseas SMSes, 120 standard international minutes to selected countries and 6GB of data (a special offer running at the time of writing boosts that to 12GB).

The $60 business plan has the same inclusions.

But the personal plan is for “personal use by approved customers only” while the business plan is for “personal use by approved customers with an ABN/ACN only”.

We asked Vodafone to explain how a business plan can be for personal use only, but received no reply more than a week later. The only interpretations we can suggest are either that it essentially the same as Optus's business/commercial dichotomy but using different words, or that you can’t use that plan on a phone that’s used by more than one person (for example, the phone carried by whichever member of a team is on call over a particular weekend).

Telstra's personal and business plans are slightly different. For example, $50 a month gets personal customers ‘$1000 worth of calls’, unlimited SMS and 2.5GB of data, while business customers pay $55 for ‘$1200 worth of calls’, unlimited SMS and 5GB of data.

Bear in mind Telstra’s call values are calculated on what we consider to be an inflated tariff of $1 per minute. By comparison, even a $19 Virgin Mobile prepaid recharge can have a rate as low as 15c per minute.

A Telstra spokesperson* said that customers must have an ACN or ABN to qualify for a business plan, but business customers can opt for consumer plans if they consider the price and inclusions are a better fit.

"For example, we provide our small business customers with more voice value, because we know they make calls more frequently than our consumer customers," the spokesperson said, adding that the business plans also allow for free calls between mobiles on the same account.

Other benefits of the Go Business Mobile plans include a free data SIM for use with a tablet or dongle, with both devices sharing the same pot of data, and the ability to put cloud services such as Office 365, Symantec Endpoint Protection and Deputy rostering and workforce management onto the same bill.

Data sharing across multiple services is available on Telstra's consumer and business plans.

Mobile virtual network operators – the companies that provide mobile services based on third-party networks such as Telstra, Optus or Vodafone – generally make a clear distinction between personal and business usage.

For example, the conditions for amaysim's Unlimited plans flatly state they are “available to individual customers only (not companies or businesses), who use their mobile phone for personal use only. If we determine that you are using Unlimited 3GB other than for personal use or if we determine that you are using the Plan in a way that does or may, in our opinion, adversely affect the network, we reserve the right (at our option) to transfer you to the amaysim As You Go Plan, or to immediately suspend or cancel your access to the Service”.

We asked amaysim what it considers ‘personal use’ to be, and its compliance and service operations manager Chad Heininger responded: “We see personal use as individuals using their amaysim service primarily for private use in a way not connected with carrying out a business activity. As per our Fair Go Policy, our customers are unable to use our service for ‘business purposes’ as this falls outside of personal use. We aren’t specific about what constitutes as business use, because we trust our customers to use their judgment and play by the rules. For example, we would not expect our customers to use our service to support a large business or organisation as this clearly would be for ‘business purposes’. We also expect our customers to use our service in a reasonable and acceptable manner.”

It sounds to us that there's a certain amount of wriggle room – if your small-business ‘business use’ is similar to that of a personal customer in terms of the number of calls and texts, how would Amaysim tell the difference, and why would it be bothered? That said, we're not encouraging anyone to breach the T&Cs.

While large organisations can receive volume pricing, the benefits of business plans for small businesses are hard to quantify. In fact, the differences between many personal and business plans in terms of inclusions and costs are so insignificant that we can’t help feeling that the distinction is mostly arbitrary.

However, that also means there’s rarely any downside to opting for a business plan rather than the corresponding personal version.

So if a phone is going to be used primarily for business purposes, you might as well opt for a business plan and be fully compliant with the plan’s terms and conditions. It’s likely to cost much the same – and it reduces the admittedly slight risk that your service will be terminated because you went outside the T&Cs. 

* Note: This article was updated on 21 April 2016 due to Telstra responding to our request for more information after the article's publication.

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These are the best NBN plans and deals available in June

The best NBN plans picked at the start of each month from Australia’s best providers, from cheaper NBN 25 to the fastest NBN 1000 plans.

• Best NBN 50 plan : Kogan Silver Unlimited
• Best cheap NBN deal : Spintel NBN Unlimited Entry 25
• Best NBN 100 plan : Kogan Gold Unlimited
• Best NBN 250 plan : Spintel NBN Unlimited 250
• Best NBN 1000 plan : Southern Phone NBN Ultrafast
• Popular Telstra NBN plan : Telstra Upfront Internet Plan Essential
• Popular Optus NBN plan : Optus Plus Everyday Fast NBN
• Popular TPG NBN plan : TPG NBN Home Fast Unlimited Plan

Unlimited data is standard for home internet plans in Australia, so NBN providers tend to compete on promotional pricing and faster download speeds . NBN speed tiers technically start with NBN 12, but we don’t think that’s fit for purpose for most homes in Australia, which is why our cheapest picks start with the more practical NBN 25.

For an NBN 25 plan, typical pricing starts at around $55 per month. NBN 50 plans start at roughly $70 per month for regular pricing, while NBN 100 plans cost at least around $80 per month. For homes that support faster speed tiers, NBN 250 typical pricing starts at around $85 per month, while cheaper NBN 1000 plans usually cost around $105 or more each month.

With the price expectations out of the way, read on for the best NBN plans in June.

The NBN plans listed below are our top picks for the month from every Australian fixed-line internet plan on the market that we track in our comparison engine. If you’d like to start your own search and compare your options, use our NBN plan search tool .

How we choose the best NBN plans

Our top picks go through a rigorous selection process at the start of each month. The best NBN plans and contenders are evaluated by typical evening speeds, monthly price, first-year value, additional fees and more. All of our category winners and contenders are evaluated next to dozens of other NBN plans. Our overall scores for NBN providers—part of an in-depth comparison schema—also factor into the final decision. Read more about how we review NBN plans .

Best NBN 50 plan

Kogan silver unlimited.

🔥 Deal: Save $10/mth : $58.90/mth for first six months, then $68.90/mth.

✓ How we chose this plan:

• We used dollar-to-speed comparisons to separate cheaper NBN 50 plans for first-year value. Plan features and our in-depth NBN provider schema are used for tie-breaks.

NBN 50 is the most popular speed tier in Australia, which is understandable because it’s a good mix of price and speed. Nowadays, it’s trickier to separate NBN 50 plans in terms of speed, with 50Mbps self-reported typical evening download speeds common across providers. Upload speeds are self-reported nowadays, too, which is a great way to separate close-competing providers.

Kogan Internet is back for yet another category win, this month with the return of a $10 discount for the first six months (up from three). After those initial $58.90 months, the $68.90 typical monthly fee is a good price to pay for 50Mbps download speeds and 17Mbps upload speeds. Alternatively, compare the Kogan winning plan with the pricier Dodo NBN 50 Unlimited Plan or the SkyMesh NBN Unlimited 50/20 Plan, which has a free first month.

What is the best NBN plan?

The best NBN plan is the one that pairs well with your monthly internet budget and the speed needs of your home. It might not be the speed tier you settle on, but NBN 50 is usually the best place to start. NBN 25 plans used to be a cheaper alternative but that’s not necessarily the case anymore, at least not during initial promotional periods.

NBN 50 internet plans are the most popular type of internet plan in our database because they offer a great mix of price and speed. Most homes can rev up to NBN 100 (or beyond) if they need more megabits-per-second for downloads.

Best cheap NBN (25) deal

Spintel nbn unlimited entry 25.

• We used dollar-to-speed comparisons to separate cheaper NBN 25 plans for first-year value. Plan features and our in-depth NBN provider schema are used for tie-breaks.

We consider NBN 25 plans to be the real entry-level home internet option given the slow speeds on offer from NBN 12 plans: up to 25Mbps downloads vs max 12Mbps, respectively. If you don’t mind shifting providers every six months, NBN 50 plans may even have cheaper promotional pricing than NBN 25 typical monthly prices. Regardless, you can save a comparatively decent amount of money by sticking with an NBN 25 plan once regular pricing kicks in.

Spintel returns for yet another win with its NBN Unlimited Entry 25 plan. This NBN 25 plan normally costs $54.95 a month but has a cheaper $49 monthly fee for the first six months if you’re a new Spintel customer. Whichever price you’re paying, you can expect 25Mbps evening download speeds and 8Mbps upload speeds. If you need support, Spintel also offers a seven-day call centre. For NBN 25 alternatives with faster upload speeds, consider the Exetel Everyday NBN 25 plan or the Tangerine Value NBN plan.

Best NBN 100 plan

Kogan gold unlimited.

🔥 Deal: Save $10/mth : $68.90/mth for first six months, then $78.90/mth.

• We used dollar-to-speed comparisons to separate cheaper NBN 100 plans for first-year value. Plan features and our in-depth NBN provider schema are used for tie-breaks.

NBN 100 plans are the fastest speed tier available to most fixed-line homes in Australia. The chances are good you’re in a fixed-line home if you live in a metropolitan area. NBN 100 plans come in two flavours: one with max 20Mbps upload and the other with 40Mbps. You really only need an NBN 100/40Mbps plan if you perform a lot of uploading tasks, like syncing large files with the cloud. Otherwise, save money with an NBN 100/20 plan.

Kogan takes the top spot this month thanks to a timely EOFY deal with its Gold Unlimited plan. Instead of the typical $78.90 monthly fee, new Kogan Internet customers pay a $68.90 monthly cost for the first six months. Just get in by the end of June to secure the deal. Either price nets you respectable 90Mbps download speeds and solid 17Mbps upload speeds. Connect a Qantas account to earn one Qantas Point per $2 spent with Kogan. Alternatively, get faster downloads and uploads with the Spintel NBN Unlimited Premium 100 plan or faster download speeds with the Dodo NBN 100 Unlimited Plan.

Best NBN 250 plan

Spintel nbn unlimited 250.

Note: NBN 250 plans are only available to homes with NBN Hybrid Fibre Coaxial ( HFC ) or Fibre-to-the-Premises ( FTTP ) technologies.

🔥 Deal: Save $10.95/mth : $75/mth for first six months, then $85.95/mth.

• We used dollar-to-speed comparisons to separate cheaper NBN 250 plans for first-year value. Plan features and our in-depth NBN provider schema are used for tie-breaks.

NBN 250 plans are a good choice for a home whose internet speed needs go beyond 100Mbps downloads. For the NBN 250 plans we track, 200Mbps is the slowest typical evening download speeds you can expect. Basically, an NBN 250 plan is worth considering if NBN 100 isn’t quite fast enough but the prospect of an NBN 1000 plan is too expensive.

This month, the Spintel NBN Unlimited Entry plan is back on top once again thanks a lot to ongoing competitive promotional pricing. New customers pay a $75 monthly fee for the first six months before reverting to a typical $85.95 cost. You’ll get respectable 211Mbps download speeds and 22Mbps upload speeds during the busy evening hours. If you have any issues, the Spintel call centre is available seven days a week. Alternatively, consider the faster download speeds on offer from the TPG NBN Home Superfast Unlimited Plan or the Southern Phone NBN Superfast plan.

Best NBN 1000 plan

Southern phone nbn ultrafast.

• We used dollar-to-speed comparisons to separate cheaper NBN 1000 plans for first-year value. Plan features and our in-depth NBN provider schema are used for tie-breaks.

The main reason to consider an NBN 1000 plan is you want no-compromise download speeds. Upload speeds are only marginally faster than an NBN 100/40 plan (up to 40Mbps uploads), hitting max 50Mbps speeds. But for download speeds, you’re looking at up to 10 times faster than an NBN 100 plan under the right conditions, which means significantly shorter waiting times for large file downloads.

The NBN 1000 landscape has heated up in recent times, with healthy download speed boosts from Optus, Superloop and Swoop . But this month’s winner is the Southern Phone NBN Ultrafast plan, which has great pricing for any new customer who gets in by 25 June 2024. Get in by that cut-off and you’re paying a $95 monthly fee for the first six months instead of the $105 typical monthly cost. You’ll get fast 650Mbps download speeds and good 43Mbps upload speeds. Alternatively, nab a faster plan with the TPG NBN Home Ultrafast Unlimited Plan or the Superloop Lightspeed NBN 1000/50 plan.

Most popular Telstra NBN plan

Telstra upfront internet plan essential.

We find that there’s a lot of internet search around the best Telstra NBN plans each month. While Telstra hasn’t taken out any of our curated categories above, we did want to acknowledge the provider’s popularity. Telstra NBN plans are generally pricier but typically offer fast download speeds and they all come with a preconfigured Telstra Smart Modem 3 .

At the start of the month, the Telstra Upfront Internet Plan Essential was the most popular choice yet again. There hasn’t been a discount for a few months now, so you’ll pay the typical $100 monthly fee for 50Mbps download and 17Mbps upload speeds, plus three months of Telstra Device Security. All Telstra NBN plans come with a home phone that includes unlimited calls to Australian local, national and mobile numbers. Alternatively, consider the not-quite-as-popular Telstra Upfront Internet Plan Premium or Telstra Upfront Internet Plan Basic.

• We highlighted the most popular Telstra NBN plan on 3 June 2024.

Most popular Optus NBN plan

Optus plus everyday fast nbn.

🔥 Deal: Save $20/mth: $79/mth for first six months, then $99/mth.

• We highlighted the most popular Optus NBN plan on 3 June 2024.

Like Telstra, there are a lot of monthly Google searches for the best Optus NBN plans. We figure this is because people may believe that Telstra and Optus own mobile networks alongside the NBN. That’s not the case and our best NBN plan picks for the main speed tiers are above. That said, Optus NBN plans do come with decent speeds and a preconfigured Optus Ultra WiFi Modem Gen 2.

But if you want to know which Optus NBN plan people are leaning towards at the start of the month, it’s still the Optus Plus Everyday Fast NBN plan. Normally priced at $99 per month, new customers get $79 monthly pricing for the first six months. Just sign up by 30 June 2024 to nab the cheaper pricing. Whichever price you pay, you get 100Mbps download speeds and 18Mbps upload speeds. Alternatively, the Optus Plus Everyday Ultrafast NBN and Optus Plus Everyday Superfast NBN plans were also popular at the start of the month (for FTTP and HFC homes).

Most popular TPG NBN plan

Tpg nbn home fast unlimited plan.

• We highlighted the most popular TPG NBN plan on 3 June 2024.

Telstra, Optus and TPG are big-name internet brands in Australia, which is likely why they’re also the ones people search for the most when seeking an NBN plan. As you’ve hopefully seen above, though, there are more competitively priced NBN plans from other providers.

At the start of the month, the most popular TPG plan was the NBN Home Fast Unlimited Plan. Sign up by 2 July 2024 to get a free first month, then six months of discounted pricing: a $79.99 monthly fee before the typical $89.99 monthly cost kicks in. Whichever price you’re paying, expect 97Mbps download speeds and 17Mbps upload speeds. For other popular TPG NBN plans, consider the NBN 50 Unlimited Plan or the NBN Home Ultrafast Unlimited Plan (for FTTP and HFC homes).

Please note the most popular TPG NBN plan below may be different from the one above at different points of this month.

What to look for in an NBN plan

There are several key factors to consider before signing up for a new NBN plan or switching from one provider to another.

• Download speeds: The faster the download speed, the speedier your connection. Unless you live alone or in a home with a couple of people who don’t really use the internet a lot, it’s best to start with NBN 50 and work up. NBN 50 plans aren’t much more expensive than NBN 25 plans, but they are noticeably faster.
• Upload speeds: Download speeds are, admittedly, more important than upload speeds , but if you're working from home , NBN plans with fast upload speeds are worth considering. For those after faster uploads, consider an NBN 100/40 plan from select providers. Alternatively, for the ultimate mix of download and upload speeds, NBN 1000 plans offer up to 50Mbps upload speeds.
• Promotional pricing: Some NBN providers offer a discounted rate for new customers. NBN plan promo pricing can make it easier to justify trying out a faster speed tier than the one you need before committing to a higher fee.
• Typical pricing: If you want a long-term NBN provider, factor in more than just the promo period. An otherwise-good discount might not be worth the short-term savings once you’re paying a lot more for the typical monthly fee.
• Provider speeds : NBN providers sell internet plans within determined speed tiers. But not all NBN providers offer the same download and upload speeds within those tiers. Alongside NBN providers’ respective self-reported typical evening download and upload speeds, be sure to check what the ACCC has to say about participating providers before you sign up.
• Extra costs : Contracts on NBN plans are rare these days and best avoided. Most NBN providers let new customers use a bring-your-own (BYO) NBN-compatible modem-router or router . Others offer preconfigured modem-routers or routers for purchase, while others still bundle a modem-router with their plans. Consider the costs involved with paying extra for a provider-recommended NBN networking device as well as potential hardware exit fees if you switch NBN providers.

Which NBN provider is the best?

For us, the best NBN provider is the one that ticks the right boxes based on what you need. If you’re after great pricing, look for a provider that offers promotional pricing and competitive typical monthly plan fees, like Spintel, Exetel, Swoop , Kogan, Tangerine and Superloop.

Download speeds are typically closely matched for plans up to NBN 100 but there are providers who tend to offer fast plan speeds, including Dodo, Southern Phone and Swoop. Upload speeds and latency are more closely matched but check in with providers tracked by the ACCC for the best typical upload speeds and lowest possible latencies. Even if an NBN provider isn’t part of the ACCC’s ‘Broadband performance data’ program, the results from participating providers are still a great guideline for what to expect from others.

Unlike SIM-only plans , NBN plans aren’t renowned for being particularly feature-rich. That said, while it’s common for providers to let customers use a BYO modem-router or router, you may want a preconfigured NBN-compatible modem-router or router that automatically updates. For that peace of mind, consider NBN providers like Telstra, Optus, iiNet and Internode , all of which offer plans with modem-routers that have 4G backup .

Speaking of peace of mind, those after an NBN provider with lots of support pathways should consider Optus, Telstra, iiNet and Vodafone . While customer-review sites tend to be a haven for those venting about their negative experiences, we’ve tracked great reported customer satisfaction for Aussie Broadband , Kogan Internet, Moose NBN and Tangerine.

If you’re after a single NBN provider pick, Tangerine is our current favourite.

How much should I pay for NBN?

NBN 50 is the most popular speed tier and the one we recommend most homes start with for comparisons. Promotional pricing starts at around $60 but expect to pay at least $70 a month for a competitively priced cheaper NBN 50 option in terms of typical costs.

The cheapest NBN plans in our comparison engine start at around $50 with promotional pricing and closer to $55 per month typically for an NBN 25 plan. NBN 100 plans compete around the $70 mark for promo pricing but are upwards of $80 for cheap typical monthly pricing.

You might find cheap NBN 250 promotional pricing under $80 but expect to normally pay closer to $100 per month for most of the cheaper NBN 250 plans. NBN 1000 plans are around $100 during promotional periods but cost more than $105 during a typical month.

Here’s how much you should expect to pay for each NBN speed tier in terms of standard pricing (for the plans in our comparison engine).

• Satellite NBN : Monthly prices from $34.95
• Fixed Wireless NBN : Monthly prices from $59.99
• NBN 12: Monthly prices from $64.80
• NBN 25: Monthly prices from $54.95
• NBN 50: Monthly prices from $68.90
• NBN 100: Monthly prices from $78.90
• NBN 250: Monthly prices from $85.95
• NBN 1000: Monthly prices from $104.99

Which NBN provider is the cheapest?

The cheapest NBN provider may change month to month, depending on whichever promotional pricing is the lowest per speed tier. Generally, Tangerine, Exetel, Spintel, Superloop and Dodo closely compete on promotional pricing for popular speed tiers. In terms of the typically cheapest regular monthly pricing, consider Spintel, Tangerine, Kogan and Mate.

NBN frequently asked questions

• Bundling your NBN and mobile phone
• Bundling your NBN and home phone
• Bundling your NBN, electricity and gas
• Bundling your NBN with streaming services

Discounts for older adults are available for mobile phones but are less common for NBN providers. Check in with a prospective NBN provider to see if they have a discount available at the time of sign-up.

Most NBN fixed-line plans come with unlimited data these days. There are, however, data caps for NBN Sky Muster satellite and some Fixed Wireless NBN plans. Note that unlimited-data plans typically come with a fair-use policy, technically restricting how much you can download in a month, but this won’t impact most regular internet users.

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Disclaimer: The information featured in this article is based on our best estimates of pricing, package details, contract stipulations, and service available at the time of writing. This is not a guarantee. All information is subject to change. Pricing will vary based on various factors, including, but not limited to, the customer’s location, package chosen, added features and equipment, the purchaser’s credit score, etc. For the most accurate information, please ask your customer service representative. Clarify all fees and contract details before signing a contract or finalizing your purchase. Each individual's unique needs should be considered when deciding on chosen products.

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Optus’ Two Cheapest Postpaid Plans Got More Expensive, Here’s How They Compare

Optus has changed its mobile pricing for new customers, making its two most affordable postpaid plans more expensive and lowering the price of its largest plan. For the two plans that saw a price increase, the telco has also raised the monthly data allowance, which could benefit heavier users

The cheapest Optus postpaid mobile plan is now $52 per month and includes 50GB of data. The previous pricing was $49 per month for 30GB. 

The next plan is $62 per month with a huge 180GB – previous pricing was $59 with 100GB. And the final change saw Optus’ 360GB plan fall in price from $82 to $89 per month.

These price changes won’t impact existing customers. At this time, they’re only for customers signing up to a new plan or recontracting. 

Here’s an overview at the recent changes to Optus postpaid plans:

At $3 per month, the two price increases aren’t huge, especially when compared to the extra data. But given the average postpaid Australian mobile user in 2022-2023 went through about 16GB per month, according to a report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) . 50GB could be more than many customers need.

Optus’ prepaid plans remain unchanged and have a cheaper starting point. But if you want to grab a new phone on a 12, 24 or 36-month contract, you have to go with the postpaid options. That said, Optus isn’t alone here. Vodafone and Telstra are the only other large telcos that regularly sell new phones on a plan, and their postpaid plans also don’t start cheap.

Here are Optus’ new postpaid plans:

We can compare them to similar plans from other providers on the Optus network, ranked by total cost over the first 24 months (to help offset the introductory discounts offered by many providers).

Here’s a look at postpaid plans on the Optus network with at least 50GB of data:

The two best-value plans here are from Circles.Life and SpinTel. Circle’s plan comes out ever so slightly cheaper than SpinTel’s over the first 24 months (by $36) and is initially $4 cheaper per month, thanks to an introductory 12-month deal that also increases its data from 30GB to 50GB. But after 12 months, SpinTel’s plan is cheaper per month and offers more data.

These Optus network plans have at least 150GB of data:

Once again, Circles.Life has a good contender here. At $45 per month for the first 12 months, then $50 thereafter, even its post-discount compares favourably. On top of that, its 200GB data limit isn’t too shabby, either.

And here are mobile plans with at least 360GB of data (note: the Optus 500GB plan is a special offer and might not be available after August 4):

There aren’t too many plans on the market with this much data, so we’ve expanded our comparison to include the Vodafone and Telstra networks, too. 

Vodafone’s plans come out cheapest, both in initial monthly costs and over the first 24 months. Its 360GB plan in particular is more than $400 cheaper over this period than Optus’ two plans with equal or higher data.

With regards to Optus network providers, Circles.Life is once again looking pretty good – about $200 cheaper over the first 24 months when compared to the Optus 500GB plan deal, and even more so versus new Optus’ 360GB plan pricing. But it’s also more than $200 more than Vodafone’s 360GB plan over the initial two years, so it’s up to you to decide between price and network coverage.

If you’re after a new phone on a 12, 24 or 36-month contract, then Optus, Vodafone and Telstra are generally your only options. 

Here’s how their cheapest postpaid mobile plans compare, keeping in mind these prices don’t include payments for the phone you end up choosing:

Vodafone’s cheapest postpaid plan is only slightly cheaper than Optus’ (in fact, it’s the same price as Optus’ old plans), but it has double the data at 100GB. This is in stark contrast with Telstra’s cheapest plan, which is $72 per month for a whopping 180GB of data, though there is a $10 per month discount for the first six months with code ONLINEONLY .

Alex Angove-Plumb is a journalist at WhistleOut , Australia’s phone and internet comparison website.