Cmobile Data Plan Review – Get the data you need

Essential guidance on getting the data you need – and how to stop paying for the voice you don’t

Do you need more data in your plan than voice ? Would you like a choice of cheap data rates for your smart mobile phone from Telstra and Vodafone ? Do you make calls rarely and receive far more than you dial ? If so, you’re not alone. This new suite of data led plans from Cmobile, one of Australia’s hottest MVNO mobile phone companies could be just what you’re looking for.

The plans in a nutshell : Data Led Plans for the Telstra 3G network

Data led plans for the Vodafone 3G network

Existing phone plans do not give enough thought to customers’ data needs

People spend 9 times as long looking at their phone as they do talking on it these days. It’s a fact of life than since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, the average person is now doing their thing over the internet, from wherever they are. They’re doing things as much through an app as a website as they are through a telephone a call.

What hasn’t kept pace with these remarkable changes in phone usage trends, are Australian phone plans. Even in 2014, fully in the knowledge that people are behaving this way, the plans haven’t changed. 85% of people buy from the major phone companies. Telstra, Optus and Vodafone all lead their marketing and plan inclusions with voice headline rates. They’ve educated the market to think this way, despite the fact that most people say data is the most important aspect of their plans these days.

The rest of people, those who don’t buy from the major phone companies, that’s around 1 in 6 people, buy from MVNOs ( MVNOs are also known as network resellers – find out more here -) The smarter contingent who get their plans from these MNVO network resellers tend to be more savvy than those who go to the big brands. But even they have lacked a credible alternatives to the major Australian phone brands.

Put simply, when the big guys are trying to sell you a plan for your phone, what they tell you is how much talking you can do for the money you’re giving them every month. And they do this when everyone in Australia, including them, know that you’re going to be doing an order of magnitude more with your phone’s screen as its microphone.

Why is data so much more important than voice these days ?

Everything you used to be able to do with your phone, you can now do with data. In fact, network engineers at the tier 1 phone companies will tell you that since the phone companies’ voice transmission went digital a decade ago, even their voice signals are just data – with a different priority on their network.

Does it really cost Optus, Telstra or Vodafone 25 cents to send a 160 character SMS ? Why have their charges for SMS hardly changed in the last decade ? It’s got to be time for something different.

How can I use data instead of the phone companies’ other services ?

In a word, the answer, as you almost certainly know, is apps – short for applications.

• Skype : is one of the most famous voice communication applications. But there are tens of others out there. It’s possible to talk to people all over the world, on their mobile and landline phones, using Skype, and to never make a voice call from your own phone. Skype enables both voice and face to face ( video ) communication.
• WhatsApp : is most people’s ‘free’ ( there is an annual fee payable when you’ve had it a while ) SMS equivalent. Personally, I find it easier to use and easier to find more of my friends on WhatsApp than to use the SMS client on my phone. WhatsApp enables more user friendly, text and picture messaging integration and, critically, it’s cheaper than using the main telco networks.
• Facebook : has changed the way we communicate and, for many people, takes up more of their day than the time they spend on the phone. With Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp, can it be long before Mark Zuckerberg is vying to have you use Facebook as your contact book, instant messaging app and
• Other apps : Behind these mainstream apps are the hundreds of others that improve our communication – everything from Twitter to Google Plus. There are thousands more which entertain us with streaming music, videos, podcasts and entertainment feeds. There are millions of apps in total whether you have an Android, iPhone or Windows 8 phone, and tens of millions of websites we browse on the bus. The days of telco dominance of – anything – are over. These days, they’re just a pipe for data and Cmobile are the ones helping you find it.

There are billions of permutations of these apps as to how you go about solving your communications needs. You might favour Instagram over Facebook and Google Hangouts over Skype and WhatsApp. The whole point of the internet ( and the mobile internet ) is that you get to decide for yourself how you configure a solution to your problem.

Something needed to change – and Cmobile has provided a new option

So, if you’re using all of those apps, then you need a plan which has more data than voice, right ?

Cmobile have finally started to address the real need. Cmobile are one of Australia’s newest MVNOs. They’re entering a market packed with voice led phone plans and deceptive ‘Cap Inclusions’ which confuse people and which often charge outrageous overage fees. To positively differentiate themselves in a market which needs it, Cmobile have launched a unique suite of plans for the Australian market which are data, rather than voice led. We’ve reviewed their inclusions against the best of the rest and Cmobile’s results are impressive. Here’s what we’ve found.

The only real competition in Australia for this type of plan is from Amaysim. If you take out the Amaysim ‘PAYG’ Plan and bolt on some data, you will get comparable rates.

Data led plans under $20 per month

As usual, a small amount of extra spend will get you a long way and there is the usual trade off between network quality and inclusion. If you live in a rural area, Telstra’s 3G network and 1.5 GB for $19.90 on the Cmobile Blue plans are likely to make most sense.
CHECK CMOBILE BLUE $19.90 PLAN

In a metro or city area, with Vodafone’s recent coverage news  we’d recommend Cmobile Red’s $18 plan.
CHECK CMOBILE RED 2GB $18 PLAN

If you’re a big data user, you want to squeeze as much as you can out of your $20 and you’re comfortable with Optus 3G network coverage where you are, consider the Amaysim PAYG plan plus 2.5 GB data bundle at $19.90.
CHECK AMAYSIM FLEXI PLAN

Data led plans at $30 and under

For those who travel outside city areas, which is where you’ll have to go to find pricing as keen as 3.0 GB of 3G data on the Telstra network for only $30. Cmobile’s Blue plans are certainly worth a look for reliability at the $30 price point.
CHECK CMOBILE BLUE PLANS

Again, in Metro / city areas, we’d recommend Cmobile’s Red plan at a market leading $26 for 4.0 GB.
CHECK CMOBILE RED 4GB DATA PLAN

Slightly more expensive but perhaps worth it if you’re in a good coverage spot for the Optus 3G network, Amaysim’s plan for $44.90 per month.
CHECK AMAYSIM UNLIMITED

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Last updated on March 10th, 2022