As we know, Belong, a Telstra MVNO now has (arguably) the best value mobile deal in town for light users (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/375756). The highlights of the deal are:
(i) internet shaped to 64 kbps when data is used up (making it technically unlimited but very "limited"),
(ii) unlimited data banking, which is what I've been wanting for years (Over the past 5 years I would have gigs, man),
(iii) unlimited data gifting, meaning we can exploit any future starter packs,
(iv) for $10 extra you get 2 GB, not 1 GB, that you can bank
(v) for an extra $5 you can get some international call deals, that I have no plans on using, but it sounds pretty sweet
The reason I'm not jumping on it:
(i) When I travel I've had enough issues to realise you still need international roaming since banks are incompetent. Even though the OTP arrived AFTER Verified by Visa timed out…it's still nice to know it's there and might save you one day.
(ii) I've had Message to Text in the past and it really sucked balls. If you have friends or family with even a slight accent, or they speak a foreign language, or someone mentions a foreign name or a brand name - good luck. Maybe it's improved since then but it sounds like it should be illegal. I don't know how it works but the people leaving the message might not know they're being converted to text and you might not want some messages mistranslated in an emergency. There might be workarounds with forwarding but I haven't investigated.
(iii) Much like Message to Text, apparently Belong's customer service sucks balls so they can't speak over the phone,
(iv) I was tricked into Amaysim for 6 months thanks to a Groupon deal too good to refuse;
tldr;
So when will Amaysim or any Optus reseller match some of the features of Belong? Isn't this embarrassing for Optus?
Maybe someone here has industry knowledge so whisper it here and I promise not to tell anyone or buy or sell any shares etc.
A mod had a comment removed. No one's safe!