Optus Mobile Review ALDI Mobile Review Amaysim Mobile Review Belong Mobile Review Circles.Life Review Vodafone Mobile Review Woolworths Mobile Review Felix Mobile Review Best iPhone Plans Best Family Mobile Plans Best Budget Smartphones Best Prepaid Plans Best SIM-Only Plans Best Plans For Kids And Teens Best Cheap Mobile Plans Telstra vs Optus Mobile Optus NBN Review Belong NBN Review Vodafone NBN Review Superloop NBN Review Aussie BB NBN Review iiNet NBN Review MyRepublic NBN Review TPG NBN Review Best NBN Satellite Plans Best NBN Alternatives Best NBN Providers Best Home Wireless Plans What is a Good NBN Speed? Test NBN Speed How to speed up your internet Optus vs Telstra Broadband ExpressVPN Review CyberGhost VPN Review NordVPN Review PureVPN Review Norton Secure VPN Review IPVanish VPN Review Windscribe VPN Review Hotspot Shield VPN Review Best cheap VPN services Best VPN for streaming Best VPNs for gaming What is a VPN? VPNs for ad-blocking Okay, new question: what is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator? Glad you asked. A Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO from this point on) is a mobile service provider that leases phone and data services from network providers, rather than building and supplying the networks themselves. In most cases, MVNOs offer the same mobile coverage you’d get on the Telstra, Optus or Vodafone network but have fewer overheads to pay and tend to offer cheaper plans as a result. MVNOs on the Optus and Vodafone networks get complete access to their respective 4G networks (with 5G support slowly making its way to MVNOs too). But most Telstra MVNOs use the Telstra Wholesale Network, a slightly smaller version of Telstra’s market-leading 4G network. Some examples of popular MVNOs include Circles.Life, Woolworths Mobile and Tangerine Telecom - but there are plenty more. Here’s a quick look at some of the most popular MVNOs currently operating in Australia. The MVNO market provides healthy competition and often affordable alternatives to the more recognisable service providers. More recently, the MVNO market has been muddied by sub-brands launched and acquired by the big three. The situation is comparable to the craft beer war that’s brewing between independent Australian breweries and big multinationals. There are independently brewed craft beers like Six Strings and Stone & Wood that are part of the IBA (Independent Brewers Association) then there are fake craft beers released or acquired (e.g. Furphy and Little Creatures) by corporations like Lion and SAB in a sneaky attempt to capitalise on the trend. In the world of MVNOs, brands like Felix Mobile, Belong and Gomo are marketed like MVNOs but are actually owned and operated by one of the big three providers. Then there are independent MVNOs like Tangerine Telecom and Aussie Broadband that rely on the networks of the big three but are still privately-owned companies. After so many new MVNOs and acquisitions, it’s hard to keep track of which providers belong to which network. Here’s a diagram to help explain the relationships between the three networks and Australia’s MVNOs. Is there a significant difference between the Telstra 4GX network and the Telstra wholesale network? Well, yes and no. The Telstra 4GX network is the largest mobile network in Australia, reaching 99.4% of the Australian population. There is only one Telstra MVNO that has access to the full Telstra 4GX network, Boost Mobile. Boost isn’t owned by Telstra but the two telcos do have an agreement that gives Boost access to the complete Telstra retail network and some of Telstra’s backend resources (such as customer support). So on the complete Telstra retail network, you have two options: Telstra or Boost. Over on the Telstra wholesale network, you’ll find a lot more variety. Here’s every Telstra MVNO currently available:
ALDI Mobile Belong (Telstra sub-brand) Better Life Mobile CMobile Blue Lycamobile Mate Numobile Pennytel Tangerine Telecom Telechoice Think Mobile Woolworths Mobile
Here’s a quick look at some of the most popular plans on the Telstra network this week:
Amaysim (acquired by Optus) Aussie Broadband Catch Connect Circles.Life Coles Mobile Dodo (owned by Vocus Group) Exetel Gomo (Optus sub-brand) iPrimus (owned by Vocus Group) Moose Mobile Southern Phone Spintel Vaya (acquired by Amaysim/Optus)
At the time of writing, the cheapest MVNO available on the Optus network is Moose Mobile, which offers 6GB per month and unlimited calls/text for $9.80 for the first 12 months (after that you pay $15.80 per month). That’s a huge saving compared to the cheapest Optus SIM plan, which costs $45 per month and nets you 20GB per month and unlimited calls/text. If it’s more data you’re after, you can’t really go past Optus MVNO Circles.Life, which offers regular discounts like 100GB for $28 per month for the first 12 months (which switches to $38 per month after the first 12 months). See how Optus MVNOs stack up below: Here’s the list of TPG/Vodafone MVNOs that are still operating:
CMobile Red Felix Mobile (TPG Telecom sub-brand) Kogan Mobile iiNet (acquired by TPG Telecom) Internode (acquired by TPG Telecom) Lebara Mobile (acquired by Vodafone/TPG telecom) TPG (merged with Vodafone)
You might notice that iiNet and Internode offer almost identical services. That’s because they do. They’re both owned by TPG Telecom and both offer some of the cheapest mobile plans on the network. For example, both Internode and iiNet will give you 8GB per month and unlimited calls/text for $10 per month for the first 6 months (which almost doubles to $19.99 after the first 6 months). Overall, both don’t offer great value once you pass 12 months. Still, it’s a bit more affordable than Vodafone’s cheapest plan, which offers 40GB per month for $40 per month. Here’s a quick look at some of the most popular SIM-only plans from Vodafone MVNOs: Let’s use Telstra’s SIM-only plans as an example. Telstra’s cheapest Upfront SIM Plan costs $55 per month and gets you 40GB of data (and the usual unlimited calls and text). That’s a lot of data, more than the typical Australian uses every month. If you use a lot less data, Tangerine Telecom offers 3GB of data and unlimited calls and text for $14.90 per month. If you are after more data, you can get the same 40GB through Telstra’s sub-brand Belong for $35 per month (saving you roughly 35% per month). As we discussed above, these MVNOs use the slightly smaller Telstra wholesale network but it’s still a sizable saving. MVNOs are currently feature But it’s not just stores. Providers like Gomo and Felix Mobile don’t offer a customer support phone number either. They’re run exclusively online. Everything from signing up to troubleshooting issues is done via their websites or apps (typically with a live chat or Whatsapp messaging service). That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Some people love live chat as a customer support option. But then not every MVNO offers live chat either. This is why it’s important to research your options before signing up.
Telstra Optus Vodafone Woolworths Mobile Southern Phone Numobile
And here’s a small selection of popular handsets offered by Australian providers: With that being said, a select few MVNOs sometimes offer better perks. Woolworths Mobile, for example, will give you 10% off your monthly shop (for purchases up to $500). That’s breakfast for some large families and a potential saving of $50 per month (which more or less pays for your phone plan). And if you want to cut down the number of subscriptions you have, MATE offers its mobile customers a free subscription to the music streaming service Tidal. While Telstra, Optus and Vodafone still hold the lion’s share of Australian customers, it’s clear from our database’s popularity score that readers are more interested in seeing what the smaller players have got. Optus is the only network provider that ranks in the top 10 most popular plans in our database (supplied by our friends at WhistleOut). The rest of the list is made up of MVNOs.
