The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has found that while our mobile data allowances are up across the board, we're now paying less for our mobile plans. In its newly published telecommunications reports for 2015 to 2016, the ACCC says postpaid plan pricing fell by 0.8%, while prepaid pricing fell by 6.1% between the start and end of the 2015 - 2016 financial year.
"Prices for mobile services generally fell uniformly across consumer groups for both postpaid and prepaid services," said the ACCC. "For higher spending prepaid groups, the fall in prices was more pronounced, due to some higher-priced prepaid services being discontinued in 2015–16. For postpaid services, real prices fell only slightly for all consumer groups."
Despite the fall in prices, the average data inclusion for postpaid and prepaid plans has grown by 32%. Postpaid data inclusions were up by an average of 30%, which actually pales in comparison to the 2014 - 2015 financial year period, where allowances grew by 119%.
On the other hand, prepaid plans received the biggest benefit, with data allowances up by an average of 44%, which dwarfs the 9% increase from the previous financial year.
In addition, the ACCC found that entry level plans are only getting cheaper and cheaper. In June 2015, the cheapest mobile plan with unlimited voice and text was $30. By June 2016, the cheapest option was $20.
Alex Choros
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