New cheap prepaid mobile phone service
If you make very few phone calls, but like the security of having a mobile phone, a prepaid phone is a good choice — even on a $10 plan, many people (particularly the elderly) still don’t get their money’s worth.
However, these low-spend customers still often end up paying more than the advertised call rate by default, because the recharge vouchers usually have a fairly short use-by date — sometimes as little as 30 days — and run out before they can use all their credit.
A new mobile service launched in Australia at the end of March this year will be good news to low-volume these prepaid mobile users, as each recharge is valid for 12 months. However, while Lebara Mobile is a new service to Australia, it is a very big concern in the European mobile telecommunications market (over 3 million users).
Using the Vodaphone network in Australia, the service has no contracts, no monthly fees and all calls are charged by the minute. You can port your current mobile phone number and use your current handset if it’s not currently locked to another provider. You can buy a Lebara SIM card for $5.49 or get one free with a $10 or $30 starter pack.
Call rates
National calls to landlines and other mobiles are charged at 20 cents a minute (with a flagfall of 15 cents), National SMSes are 15 cents per message, and you can call other Lebara Mobile customers ‘free’ for the first 10 minutes (you’ll be charged a 15 cent flagfall and after the 10 minutes, call rates revert to the standard 20 cents a minute).
International rates are from 5 cents a minute —check here for rates to individual countries. International text messages are 15 cents each.
Where to buy
You can find the closest store to you selling Lebara SIM cards by going to the Store Finder and entering your postcode. But don’t worry if there isn’t one nearby as you can purchase one online. You can buy recharge vouchers online or at over 3,800 retail outlets in denominations of $10, $20, $30, $40, $50, $70 and $100.
Gail Lipscombe has worked for some of Australia's hottest tech magazines for over 10 years. In her blog, she focuses on demystifying technology, gadgets and the web for average consumers.