Vodafone today launched a new MVNO powered by its network, felix. felix has just a single plan: a $35 per month offer that includes unlimited talk and text, as well as unlimited data. Your data is however capped at 5Mbps, which is quite a limit. For comparison, a typical 4G service should easily be able to exceed speeds of over 50Mbps in a metro area. 5G services can achieve speeds of over 500Mbps with adequate coverage.
In practice, 5Mbps is still fast enough to browse the web, stream music and HD video, and fall into a TikTok spiral, but we're curious as to what the real world experience will be like. After all, there's no guarantee you'll be able to get a constant 5Mbps the entire time. There are also use cases 5Mbps simply won't be enough for - say, if you're using your phone as a portable hotspot. A 5Mbps connection may do in a pinch, but that's less than the speed of an NBN 12 plan.
However, felix General Manager for Business Development Paul Tierney says that a large cross section of the population can do "everything they need with this plan", and says he hasn't had issues with tasks like watching Netflix or streaming Optus Sports.
"We're confident we've landed on a good balance," said Tierney, speaking to WhistleOut. "As of today there are a large amount of customers that this plan works for".
While felix won't have 5G connectivity at launch, Tierney says it isn't out of the question.
"This plan isn't going to stay the same for ten years, it's going to evolve," said Tierney . "I don't think the current [speed] cap would work in a 5G world."
There's no timeline as to when felix plans to offer 5G to its customers.
As it stands, $35 per month puts felix's plan at a rather weird place in the market. Vodafone's own $35 per month plan currently includes 50GB at full 4G (or 5G, if available) speeds and unlimited data at 2Mbps if you manage to go through your allowance. For those who need more data, Optus MVNO Circles.Life has a 100GB for $38 per month (currently discounted to $28 per month for your first year). And for those who don't need quite as much, Moose Mobile has a 20GB plan at $21.80 per month.
|
#1
|
Moose Mobile
Moose 40 SIM Only
$22.00/mth
Min. cost $22
Link not supplied
|
|
#2
|
Everyday Mobile
$40 SIM Only
$40.00/mth
Min. cost $40
Link not supplied
|
|
#3
|
Vodafone
$58 Small SIM Only Plan
$45.00/mth
Min. cost $45
|
|
#4
|
Telstra
$84 Essential Upfront Mobile Plan
$74.00/mth
Min. cost $74
Link not supplied
|
The key benefit of felix's unlimited data offer ends up being simplicity: there's no reason you have to worry about going over a cap and bill shock.
"A lot of customers are overwhelmed," said Tierney. "What we offer is simplicity, an experience that does everything they need at a really good price."
Of course, the same holds true when it comes to Vodafone's own postpaid plans (and Telstra SIM-only plans). It just becomes a question of whether that certainty is worth the trade-off of slower speeds.
Historically speaking, the ACCC has taken issues with providers using words such as unlimited and endless to describe phone plans when there are clear limits involved. In 2018, the regulator put Telstra and Vodafone on notice after the pair introduced plans with capped unlimited data at speeds of 1.5Mbps for being potentially misleading.
Tierney says felix has "no concerns with our speed cap", and will provide lots of detail on its website as to what you can and can't do with 5Mbps. In addition, felix has a seven-day happiness guarantee, where any customer can get a full refund if they're not happy within their first week.
While felix's plan is fairly barebones, you can add unlimited international talk and text to 40 destinations for a further $5 per month. These are as follows:
Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Guam, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Puerto Rico, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Canary Islands, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, USA, Vatican, Vietnam.
If you're hoping to travel overseas - when that's possible again - felix has a $20 roaming add-on. This gets you 4GB of data, 100 standard minutes, and 100 standard SMS with a 365-day expiry. Once again, it's available in 40 destinations. These are as follows:
Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, PNG, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Canary Islands, Switzerland, Turkey, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, USA, Vietnam, Vanuatu.
The other key pillar of felix's brand is that it claims to be an environmentally conscious telco. It says it will offset 100% of the electricity used to power the business with investments in renewable energy certificates from renewable projects in Australia, and offset all other emissions in certified Carbon Offset projects. In addition, felix says it will plan one tree per customer, per month, with the goal of planting one million trees in its first year.
If you're keen to sign-up to felix, you'll need to download its app for iOS or Android.
felix is owned by Vodafone and powered by its 4G network.
Alex Choros
Related Articles
