Optus has followed Telstra and Vodafone's lead in restructuring all of its postpaid plans as contract-free offerings that allow customers to leave at any time.
As with its rivals, Optus is now treating phones and plans as two separate entities. If you're after a new device on Optus, you'll pick from one of four core plans with data allowances ranging from 10GB to 120GB, or design your own. You'll then pick which device you want and what kind of term you want to pay it off over. You can choose 12, 24, or 36 months. Your monthly handset repayment will be roughly equal to the outright cost divided by your repayment term.
If you want to leave Optus before your term is up, you'll just need to pay out the remainder of your device.
As part of the refresh, Optus now has four core plans. These are as follows:
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#1
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Optus
$60 Optus Choice Plus Plan
$39.00/mth
Min. cost $39
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#2
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Optus
$69 Optus Promo Plan
$69.00/mth
Min. cost $69
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#3
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Optus
$70 Optus Choice Plus Plan
$70.00/mth
Min. cost $70
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#4
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Optus
$90 Optus Choice Plus Plan
$90.00/mth
Min. cost $90
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You can pair these with any handset in the Optus range, or take them up on a SIM-only basis.
There's a bit of variance when it comes to inclusions across the plans.
Optus' new $39 per month plan is about as barebones as it gets. You get data, talk, and text, but that's all. You can add on unlimited talk and text to 35 countries for another $10 per month, but if you're after international call options, it's better to just go for Optus' $49 plan.
The $49 per month plan includes unlimited talk and text, plus Optus Sport and a six-month subscription to Apple Music. The $59 per month and $79 per month plans extend this to one-year, and include 2GB and 4GB of roaming data for use while travelling overseas. This data works in any "Zone 1" country, predominantly Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. In addition, you’ll have unlimited talk and text while roaming in these countries. Outside of this, Optus typically bills roaming at $10 per day.
While Optus says it won't charge extra for access to its 5G network in the short term, the telco is giving customers who purchase a 5G handset the option to double their data for an extra $10 per month. Customers on Optus' top two plans get their first 12 months of double data for free. Whether or not this is a good option depends on what plan you're on. For example, doubling your data on the $39 plan would get you 20GB, but you could also just sign-up to Optus' $49 plan - which includes 60GB out of the box - for the same price.
If you'd prefer to build your own plan, you can choose your own data allowance, roaming data allowance, and international call allowance. Data allowances range from 10GB to 150GB, but if you go for 10GB, you can't add roaming or international calls. Otherwise, you can pick from 0, 500, or unlimited international minutes, and 0GB, 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB of roaming data for Zone 1 countries. These can all be adjusted on a month-to-month basis.
Unlike Telstra and Vodafone, Optus has refrained from jumping on the "unlimited data" bandwagon. If you go over your data allowance with Optus, excess data is billed at the standard rate of $10 per gigabyte. Instead of charging excess fees, Telstra and Vodafone cap your network access speeds to 1.5Mbps.
Lastly, Optus has a new top-tier offering separate from its core range of plans. Dubbed Optus One, the plan includes 500GB of data, 10GB of roaming data for Zone 1 countries, and unlimited standard talk and text to 35 countries.
In addition, the Optus One plan includes a dedicated support number and network priority. In busy periods, Optus One customers should experience faster speeds than other Optus customers. Optus says that this shouldn't affect performance for standard customers in a significant manner.
"Where there is heavy demand on a cell, Optus One customers can expect to get a slightly improved level of service," said an Optus spokesperson. "It will have a negligible impact on existing user experience."
Optus One customers will also be eligible for extra perks outside of Optus' standard perks program. To start with, this will include complimentary starters at over 300 restaurants around Australia, provided each person purchases a main meal or spends $50 per booking.
To get the Optus One plan, you need to place an order over the phone, via live chat, or in-store. It isn't available through Optus' standard online ordering system.
Alex Choros
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