Best-Value Mobile Plans - High Usage: Best of the Best 2018
GOLD WINNER: MOOSE MOBILE
Australia's smartphone mania keeps growing. We are currently the fourth largest nation of smartphone owners globally, according to the latest Deloitte Mobile Consumer survey, at an estimated 84%.
Collectively, we interact more than 480 million times a day with our mobiles, with up to a quarter of us feeling "addicted" to our phone.
"These days only a small section of the population use their phones purely for calls and texts.
Most of us are on smartphones, using data-led applications, for much of the day and well into the night," says Joe Hanlon, publisher at telco comparison website WhistleOut.
"Having a data pack that allows for that sort of access wherever and whenever you want is very important."
And the volume of data we consume (via smartphones) in Australia is staggering: 175,076 terabytes in 2017 alone. That's a gobsmacking 44.5% increase since 2016, according to this year's internet activity report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
So just how much data do you need? That depends on your personal habits, says Hanlon.
"The ABS estimates that of the 26.3 million smartphone subscribers in this country we use on average 2.2GB per month each.
But if you're into data-heavy multimedia, such as streaming video or gaming, you'd chew that up quickly."
For this year's awards we've upped our data allowance to 10GB (last year's plans were filtered by a minimum of 5GB) to accommodate such data-heavy use.
Top of the podium is Moose Mobile with 10GB for $34 a month. A relatively new player, this Aussie phone company has quickly made a name for itself by offering straightforward, no-contract, SIM-only plans with unlimited calls and texts and competitive data inclusions.
"It's hard to find better data-per-dollar value than that offered by Moose Mobile," says Hanlon.
"Their plans run on the Optus network so you should have good coverage in most major areas, and they appear to be loved by their customers and come highly reviewed."
Nowadays, we almost take the act of making a call for granted.
All our winners provide unlimited calls, SMS and MMS as standard, with a certain amount of international credit included. Moose offers $300 monthly credit for overseas calls. Calls to New Zealand, for instance, cost 66c a minute and the US 37c.
Check the website for all international rates.
See more from Best of the Best 2018 here or grab the December issue for full coverage.
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