Optus is one of the biggest mobile phone carriers in Australia, with many MVNOs and even more customers; it’s a surprise that such a giant of the telecoms industry seems to be falling from grace. The rising prices, Australians becoming wiser about their data, and security concerns are leading many to ditch Optus for an MVNO.
But all is not quite as it seems.
You may be paying too much for your data.
Previously, we published another article about why you’re probably paying too much for your 4/5G data. With the cost of everything rising, many Telcos are justifying their price rises by giving their customers more data. However, most people don’t use anywhere near as much data as they pay for. We’re paying for things that we don’t even use!
And a recent survey from EFTM is just proving it more.
Why Optus made this mistake
To be fair to Optus, their price rises were inevitable. The cost of everything is rising, the infrastructure for the 4/5G towers, the hourly labor cost of the good men and women who work on them, the manufacturing costs, transportation costs (which include fuel), and the increased cost of their salespeople.
So, as we’ve just said, to try to justify the increased cost, rather than admitting, “Of course, your phone plan is now more expensive! Look at the world!” Optus decided to increase its data allowances to make it sound like a better deal. ‘
But, this may have backfired as recent numbers have shown that many of Optus’ customers are leaving, or thinking about it, for smaller Telcos.
EFTM Survey
One survey, carried out by EFTM, spoke to 2000 Australians. In this survey, they asked people about their current phone plan, which telco they used, and how much data they used a month.
On average, a postpaid plan costs people $60 a month. And a prepaid plan costs $30. Please note that these are just averages, which suffer from all kinds of flaws, but they can give a rough idea of most people’s actions.
But, the survey also found that while the average Aussie gets 47GB of data, they only use 24. This means many people are paying for 23GB of data they don’t even use. Even if this is only worth, let’s say, $10, would you put $10 into a bin each month? I know I wouldn’t.This survey proves both what we have said, and what the ACCC has been warning Aussies about for years.
Another reason people are leaving Optus.
However, we should slow down before jumping to conclusions. According to the EFTM survey, of all the people who are considering leaving Optus, 56% say it’s because of a cyber attack that happened earlier this year.
In this attack, Optus was hacked, and many Australians had their personal data leaked.
Although, the attack can’t explain everything since a significant portion of Optus’ old customers seems to be going to MVNOs (smaller Telcos that buy bulk access from the big three and sell it for less). So clearly, Aussies are looking to save money on their phone plans. But, perhaps Optus will have time to recover, since the average time it takes to shop for a new phone plan is 5 years- plenty of time to convince people to stay.
Maybe people actually aren’t ditching the big three.
Let’s say you decide to leave Optus and use Amaysim instead. It may seem like you’re leaving Optus, but are you?
All of the infrastructure and frequencies that Amaysim uses are owned by Optus. You’re still giving your money to Optus. You’re just using Amaysim as a middleman.
If your reason for leaving Optus is the high prices, this won’t be a problem. Your goal was to get a cheaper phone plan, and you achieved it. But what if you left Optus for a different reason?
If someone who left Optus because they dislike large corporations, or were scared by the cyber attack, becomes an Amaysim customer, it doesn’t make much sense. It’s a bit like me saying, “I don’t like the recent actions of Coca-Cola, so I’m only drinking Fanta from now on.”
Conclusion
The EFTM study shows what our old article showed- Aussies are paying too much for their data. It’s a ploy from the Tier 1’s to justify their price rises and make them slightly more palatable to the average consumer. But, people are clocking onto this and leaving the Tier 1’s for the cheaper MVNOs. However, many people are also leaving Optus due to security concerns. These people should be careful, as many MVNOs use the same services breached in a recent attack. Our advice is to be careful and do your research. Find a deal that is good value for money and doesn’t make you spend too much on data you won’t use. You can also see which Tier 1’s infrastructure your chosen MVNO uses before you buy a SIM from them.