2013 looks set to welcome a few new players to Australia's prepaid mobile market, as the competing big telcos continue opening up their wholesale networks to smaller operators.
Telstra continues to take steps to challenge Optus' dominance as a mobile wholesaler, by allowing the newly launched Kogan Mobile, and new partner Boost Mobile, access to its Next G 3G networks. For now, the carrier is keeping 4G LTE access reserved exclusively for Telstra customers.
Optus, however, will be allowing some of its resellers to offer 4G – eventually anyway. We've discussed the likelihood of 4G for prepaid customers using Optus MVNOs in a previous post, and will keep you updated as to when it becomes available.
Boost Mobile
Since jumping from Optus to the Telstra network, Boost Mobile has revamped its plans, and what we’re seeing so far looks promising.
Unlike other companies wholesaling Telstra such as Kogan, Boost will have access to the full Telstra Next G service, meaning speeds won’t be throttled at 7 megabits per second as with Kogan customers (although as we've said, no 4G access yet).
Boost offer three prepaid plans, priced at $10, $20 and $40, and all include unlimited standard national calls to both land lines and mobiles (including 13/1300/1800 numbers and MessageBank retrieval) and unlimited text and MMS messaging. The differences in the plans are how much data is included, and how long until your credit expires.
$10 gives you 500MB and 5 days of credit, $20 buys 1 GB and 15 days, and $40 includes 3 GB and a 30 day expiry time. Included data expires either on the expiry date or on the next recharge, whichever comes first, so no rolling over of data.
Data for the new plans will be charged in 1 MB blocks. When Boost was operating under the Optus network, data was charged in 10 MB blocks, so this is a welcome change.
Boost's deal with Optus expired January 20th. The company won't officially relaunch under the Telstra network until March 1st, but customers can pre-order a Boost SIM online now.
As an initial promotion Boost is offering its first round of registered customers a limited edition Boost Golden SIM, which includes $10 of recharge credit. Ordering a Golden SIM also means customers will become Boost Golden Members, meaning they'll be eligible for ongoing members-only benefits (no mention on if this includes a tour of the Boost factory?).
Only new Boost customers will be placed on the Next G network - existing Boost users will continue to receive the service from Optus from January 21 onwards, unless they elect to cancel it and move to another provider, or switch to a new Boost SIM on the Telstra network.
Australia Post
Although it's still all just speculation, one potential new MVNO that could prove a formidable presence in the industry is Australia Post. While its retail outlets currently act as a stockist of various prepaid mobiles and SIM cards for other providers, the corporation has yet to launch its own prepaid offerings. Rumour has it the company may flip the switch on an Australia Post Mobile service within the first half of this year.
If so, the big question will be which operator Australia Post will go with. There's no question that Optus resellers far outnumber those of the other networks, but Telstra has made some interesting moves recently in terms of its deals with Kogan and Boost.
If the recent recruitment of experienced telco executives for the company's retail services division are any indication, Australia Post's entry into the mobile mobile market may be sooner than expected.
The main issue for Australia Post is how to differentiate its services in what is already a highly competitive and saturated market. Perhaps the company has an edge, being that it's already one of Australia’s most recognised and trusted brands. It’s a household name, not a start up, and for that reason alone many people may be keen to give Australia Post a chance. If it can negotiate a similar deal to Boost by securing full use of the Telstra Next G network, and of course offer competitive plans, this may just sway a lot of customers Australia Post’s way.
Yatango Mobile
Finally, the latest newbie on the MVNO market preparing to launch this month is Yatango Mobile. Although so far the marketing isn't giving too much away - its website and Facebook pages aren't outlining any plans yet, just promising 'a new era of mobile' - the company has revealed it will be a SIM only, online platform that will offer ‘cheaper, personalised pricing’.
Customers will receive coverage through the Optus network, and the company will apparently use an aggressive social media strategy to help snag users, including a member community that rewards subscribers for acquiring and assisting new members.
For customers looking for an alternative to the big carriers, smaller providers are looking more and more like a viable option, particularly as new contenders are throwing their hats in the MVNO ring and finding new ways to stand out from the pack. It will be interesting to see how rookies such as Yatango Mobile fare over the next twelve months in an increasingly competitive market.
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