Vodafone made headlines a few years back when it moved to a fresh take on unlimited mobile plans that billed as endless data.
Since then, the provider has rebranded that offering to excess-charge-free data but the general gist remains the same. Aussies who go through all their gigabytes on one of Vodafone’s postpaid mobile plans are downgraded to a slower connection rather than being kicked off the network or hit with surprise fees.
What’s more, Vodafone is far from the only game in town for this style of unlimited mobile plan. For a sense of what the landscape looks like when it comes to the cheapest unlimited mobile plans available in Australia, check out the widget below.
As you can see, Dodo is a natural go-to if you’re in the market for a cheaper mobile plan with so-called unlimited data. However, price isn’t everything and there are a few details to unpack if you’re looking to compare the provider behind the cheapest excess-charge-free mobile plan with the one behind Australia’s first.
Let’s start with big red. For a quick snapshot of the best mobile plans on the Vodafone network with at least 10GB of monthly data, take a look at the widget below.
If you’re looking for a cheap phone plan that’ll let you take advantage of this perk for as little as possible then look no further than the Vodafone $49 Small SIM-only plan.
Priced at $49 per month, this plan comes with standard calls and text, unlimited international texts, 5G coverage and no excess charges if you go over that data cap.
For comparison, check out the widget below for a quick round-up of Dodo mobile plans that include excess-charge-free data.
Our favourite here is the Dodo $25 mobile Plan. This plan comes with unlimited national calls and texts, $200 of international call credit, a 500GB data bank and 25GB of monthly data.
With this plan, you get double data for the first three months if you sign up before February 27. That perk brings the total haul here to 50GB for $25 per month. After the honeymoon period is up, you’ll be bumped down the usual 25GB but since this is a no-contract plan you’re free to shop around and find a better deal elsewhere at any point.
That said, there’s one key difference between how Dodo and Vodafone’s unlimited mobile plans work and it’s well worth keeping in mind if you’re tossing up between the two.
As of late last year, if you use up all the data on any of the Dodo mobile plans above you’ll stay connected to the Optus 4G network but with speeds capped at 256kbps rather than the previous speed limit of 1Mpbs.
That’s a significant downgrade and one that makes this provider much worse than what you can expect from an unlimited mobile plan found elsewhere. For comparison, if you use up all your data on one of Vodafone’s plans, the download cap is 2Mbps.
If you’d prefer to just cut out the nonsense then another alternative to consider is the unlimited plan offered by Felix Mobile.
This plan comes with unlimited data, local calls and texts and if you do need to phone home then Felix offers international calls as an optional add-on for an extra $5 per month. That sum scores you unlimited calls and texts to 40 selected destinations, with the full list available on the Felix Mobile website.
The only catch is that this digital buffet comes subject to a strict speed limit of 20Mpbs. That’s a lot faster than the 256Kbps throttle that kicks in on the excess-charge-free plans available from Dodo. On the other hand, it’s also a lot slower than what a 4G or 5G mobile plan could potentially offer in terms of everyday connectivity.
Fergus Halliday is a journalist at WhistleOut, Australia’s phone and internet comparison website.
Image: Vodafone/Dodo