Where have all the mobile deals gone?

too_much_boost on 03/08/2020 - 11:35

My phone contract is due to expire in 2 weeks so i'm starting to look around at my next 2 year phone plan, but none of the providers seem to be going anything good

In the past 2 years the phones have gone up and looks like the providers aren't subsiding at all any more (My note 9 was only $9 / per month on top of my plan with optus), and everyone is trying to push 36 month commitments which i'm not much interested in. I asked Optus if they had any decent deals for renewing customers and they just quoted the website

Whats going on here? Have mobile plan providers given up on competing for customers?

Mobile Phone Plan

Comments

  • spackbace on 03/08/2020 - 11:42
    +5

    looks like the providers aren't subsiding at all any more

    Bingo, now you just pay off the phone over 2-3yrs, hence why outright deals + Boost $150 sims are popular deals

    Why the need to upgrade tho? Get out of that 2yr cycle of upgrading if your current phone serves you fine (which a Note 9 should be)

    • bazingaa on 03/08/2020 - 11:55
      +1

      OP has actually paid for phone by choosing to get an expensive plan. So, $9/month is not the actual cost per month for the phone itself. For an example, it only costed me a total of $930 for S10 SD + 12 months including ~$5 with ~20GB/month ($15/90days sim swapping) from OzB deals.

    • too_much_boost on 03/08/2020 - 11:57
      +4

      I can expense up to $100/month on phone/plan and historically i've been able to keep under this limit and still get a new phone every 2 years. Its going to be much more difficult this time

      Also new shiny things are nice

      • Cheeper on 03/08/2020 - 12:37

        $100 mth phone/plan x 24 mth = $2400
        Buy outright fancy phone $1500 leaves $450 yr for your choice of telco and plan. Better option.

        • Quantumcat on 03/08/2020 - 15:59

          If he buys outright he has to pay for it instead of his employer paying

          • AustriaBargain on 03/08/2020 - 16:28
            +1

            @Quantumcat: Also purchases/payments under $300 are instantly detectable. Buy a phone outright and suddenly you're on the hook for all the advanced calculus and algebra required to figure out the depreciation value of the phone.

          • Hellcrusher3304 on 03/08/2020 - 20:10

            @Quantumcat: Phone bills can be claimed from employer?

            • Quantumcat on 03/08/2020 - 20:26

              @Hellcrusher3304: For OP they can

              I'm also looking for a similar deal as my employer has said we can expense up to $80/month for our phones

      • Hessian Sack on 03/08/2020 - 15:17

        Similar position here. iPhone XS on an Optus 200GB plan for $105ish per month in November 2018 coming up for renewal shortly. Hard to see any way that this year's new model will be anywhere near that when it comes time.

  • Hellcrusher3304 on 03/08/2020 - 12:21
    +1

    I also have a Note 9 Optus $85 plan which expires in 2 weeks time. But I decided to switch to Boost a week ago as I don't think the phones this year (especially the S20 and Note 20 series) are worth upgrading. I asked Optus for any deals and they just offered me a $59/month 100GB BYO plan lol. It turns out that switching over to Boost before my Optus contract expires will not incur any cancellation fees and I just have to pay for the pro rata amount for the July month.

    Eversince switching to Boost, I have found the experience to be quite good so far considering its crazy price ($150 for 80GB per year), and the speeds are actually faster than Optus at around 80mbps compared to the 50mbps on Optus.

    For some reason, the call waiting function on Boost is working for me. I have read forums on OzBargain and Reddit saying that call waiting is no longer available on Boost. But it worked for me and I don't see any extra charges on my account yet, strange!

    • too_much_boost on 05/08/2020 - 07:57
      +1

      Yeah it sucks. Tech is supposed to get better and cheaper over the years but current plan + phone will either be a step back for same money or 30% more for similar tech and plan

      • lgacb08 on 08/08/2020 - 04:18

        No it is not. The way the mobile industry is doing is committing suicide if it can't find reasons to suck customers into spending $100 each month on a phone rhat will be replaced in a year time just like your summer swimwear. They will collude with mobile providers to sweeten the deal with extravagant amount of data that you will never fully utilise. There's reason why only Samsung, Apple and a few Chinese players remain in the market and who knows what next.

  • AustriaBargain on 03/08/2020 - 15:10

    Ironically Telstra now stand out as being one of the only telcos who offer no excess data charges and no contracts, you can cancel whenever you want and you just pay what's left on the handset. Telstra are still one of the most expensive, but imo they pulled a complete brand and reputation reversal by ditching their old way of doing plans.

    • iforgotmysocks on 03/08/2020 - 16:25
      +2

      Yep it's like rain on your wedding day.

      • i37 on 09/08/2020 - 16:52

        Which people say is good luck. Which is basically how Telstra's new offerings work. It's good luck if their monthly rate doesn't go up. Sure your free to leave but you wouldn't have signed up for that $1800 device over 36 months if you could pay it upfront.

  • iforgotmysocks on 03/08/2020 - 16:34

    You can sneak an S20 5G or an S20+ 4G under $100/mth on a 24 month plan with woolies mobile, if 40Gb is enough. Telstra network.

    https://mobile.woolworths.com.au/Shop/Plans/Woolworths-Phone…

    • too_much_boost on 05/08/2020 - 07:55

      Thanks. Could be an option. I do occasionally need global roaming though which woolworths didn't offer last time I used them

  • WreckTangle on 04/08/2020 - 06:34

    Virgin closed down = less cheap competition

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