I spotted this deal a few days ago on a poster and forgot to look into it. The ad that I saw, which was a poster, said 12GB data for $25. Remembered last night and it actually looks really good.
Only thing is, this telco seems really really unknown. I personally have heard of them before, but not in a long time and I recall they were nothing flash when I last looked at them many years ago. It seems like there's only ever been one post about them on Ozbargain, and the Whirlpool topic is not very active (last post was July 2014). Maybe I've missed a more recent post..?
There are actually 3 plans that go under their Unlimited Data Rollover plans, but I think the $30 one is the sweet spot. Key details of this plan:
- $30/28 days ($25 for the first 28 days)
- $10 setup fee
- Direct debit required
- 12GB data first month (billed per KB, drops to 2.5GB afterwards?)
- Unlimited standard local calls (i.e. Australian landlines and mobiles)
- Unlimited calls to 13/18 numbers
- Unlimited SMS
- $30 worth of credit for calls/texts to international numbers (calls to selected countries are charged at $0.15/min, texts at $0.15 per 160 chars) - no flagfall - different rates for other countries
- Selected countries are: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, HK, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, NZ, Philippines, S.Korea, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Taiwan, UK, USA and Vietnam.
- (Dug this up from T&Cs) No excess charges. Once you reach the limit of any of your inclusions, your inclusions gets auto-renewed
- You can change between the plans
- Unlimited data rollover - according to the Critical Information Summary this can be rolled over for an unlimited number of billing periods as long as you are on this plan
- Optus 4G
Down the bottom, the fine print also says this:
NOTE: New promotion effective from 01/06/2016 to 31/08/2016. Existing customers will receive the extra data bonus for billing periods within the promotion period. Unlimited Data Rollover $40 standard data allowance upgraded from 4GB to 5GB from 01/06/2016.
Due to this, I'm assuming the data inclusion drops to 2.5 or 8.5GB after 31/08/2016 (unsure as the bonus data included actually says 2.5GB + 1GB).
Other notable, potential negatives that I can find:
- No branches, only dealers
- Phone support only available Mon-Fri 9am-6pm
- $25 SIM replacement fee (plus you might need to wait a while for delivery, given there are no branches)
- Seems like there's no international data roaming (point 4 of T&Cs)
- To cancel, you must provide written notice (I assume this isn't necessary if you are porting your number away, as opposed to cancelling your service)
The other interesting plan that I noticed, should the plan above not suit you, is their $19.90/mth plan which seems to be a potential alternative for those who are in the $18-20/mth range and are probably using Vaya or Jeenee at the moment. The main advantage that I can see with E.tel is for those who use a little less data, don't make many calls but have a strong desire for some international credit:
- $19.90/mth
- $20 setup
- 3GB data first month (billed per KB, includes 1.5GB bonus)
- If you exceed the allowance, you are automatically charged an extra $5 for 500MB
- $30 of "credit" for local & international calls, local & international SMS (billed at $0.10/min + $0.29 flagfall for local calls and selected countries, $0.10/txt local, $0.25/txt international)
- Selected countries are: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, HK, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, NZ, Philippines, S.Korea, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Taiwan, U K, USA and Vietnam.
- Direct debit required
Notable potential negatives:
- $25 SIM replacement fee
- As above, phone support only available Mon-Fri 9am-6pm
- To cancel, you must provide written notice before the 15th of each month
- No MMS included as part of credit allowance
- $25 fee for porting out?!?!?!
Now that I've come to the end of my explanation, I'm feeling like both these plans were nowhere near as good as when I first looked into it. The potential setup fees, porting out fees, limited hours for phone support drag this down. I thought the 12GB data would drop to 8.5GB, but I'm seeing the 2.5GB data figure appear more often… I think the 2.5GB + 1GB data is just a typo.
I've spent the last ~45 mins researching this though so I will post this anyway, but this will get nowhere near as many positive votes as I was expecting LOL. If this even helps one person, I'll be happy!
The only way I can see this 12GB plan being potentially good value is for someone who uses somewhere around 2.5GB data per month, who then ends up with 9.5GB data up their sleeve as rollover which can be used as a buffer for the next however many months, given this plan has unlimited rollover.
+1 for research