There are three main mobile operators in Australia: Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, and a fairly large number of virtual ones (operating in the networks of the main ones): Amayzim, Virgin mobile, Lebara, Exetel and others.

If you plan to travel around the continent, then the choice should be made based on the quality of communication and the coverage area of ​​a particular operator. The best in this regard is Telstra – this is exactly the case when the price of services corresponds to their quality – the most expensive, but the most stable operator.

Tariffs of the main operators are divided into contract (postpaid) and prepaid (prepaid). Contract rates are available to anyone (even non-residents) with a couple of international bank credit cards and an Australian address. But the contract is concluded for a certain period (at least two years), termination threatens to pay a large penalty. Therefore, if your Australian plans are not so global, then welcome to the “prepaid” section.

Prepaid tariffs of the main Australian mobile operators can be divided into three types: “pay as you go” (you pay for what you use), packages (a certain number of services for a certain amount of money) and caps (caps – virtual money).

To make it clearer what is what, consider the tariffs offered by Telestra:

– Simplycity (pay as you go) tariff – the cost of a minute of conversation within the country is 15 Australian cents (the price of one Australian dollar is steadily moving towards thirty rubles), the cost of a message is 12 cents, international messages will cost 20 cents, Internet – 10 cents per megabyte. You can top up your account with 20 Australian dollars (limit 30 days), $30 (60 days), $50 (90 days) and $100 (half a year)

– Beyond talk tariff (packages valid for 30 days) – for $30 you get 200 minutes of Australian calls, 200 messages and 200 megabytes, for $40 – only three hundred and so on

– Cap Encore tariff – involves a certain amount of “cash” bonuses. When you deposit $30, you get $250 in your account, for $40 you get $550 in your account. Why such generosity!? This is where the fun begins: the connection fee appears (39 cents), the cost of a minute of conversation increases to 89 cents, and the cost of a message – to 29 cents. But the tariff already includes a certain amount of Internet (from 500 megabytes, depending on the amount of replenishment).

Vodafone prepaid rates and Optus have a similar system, and the cost of services differs little. We can single out a package offer from Optus – for those whose stay in Australia is calculated in days, not months: for two Australian dollars a day (24 hours), unlimited calls and messages within the country, as well as 500 megabytes of Internet are offered. At the same time, the cost of a call to Russia will be only one dollar per 10 minutes.

Virtual operators are limited to one or two types of tariffs. For example, Virgin mobile only offers “pay as you go” and “caps” options. The cost of services is close to the cost of the main operators, and the quality of communication leaves much to be desired.

The virtual operator Amayzim deserves special attention – the cost of services compares favorably with the cost of all the above operators. On the “as you go” tariff, a minute of conversation and a message (within the country) will cost 12 cents, and a megabyte of Internet will cost 5 cents.

If you top up your account for $20, then the cost of calls and messages is reduced to 9 cents, in addition to this you get 500 megabytes of Internet and free calls and messages within the network. And for $40 a month you will become the proud owner of four gigabytes of Internet and a full unlimited for calls and messages within the country. The cost of a minute of conversation with Russia is 19 cents (for all tariffs). The disadvantage of this operator is the poor quality of communication outside settlements.

Pay phones in Australia are operated by Telstra. The telephone network stretches along all highways and covers the most remote areas of the country.
You can pay for the conversation with a telephone card (sold in newsstands and communication stores), coins, or a plastic card. Some devices can send SMS messages