TeleChoice Plan Review
And Comparison

TeleChoice are a smaller but still credible SIM Only phone plan provider. They originally began reselling the Telstra Wholesale Nework as an MVNO in 2013.

TeleChoice’s plans have a number of worthwhile attributes:

• They resell part of the Telstra 3G / 4G / 5G network:
  Note, TeleChoice do not provide access to the full Telstra network – they resell the Telstra Wholesale Network 3G, 4G, and 5G networks. See details on coverage footprint, below.
• Now sell both types of plans:
  Their range includes both prepaid and postpaid plan options. The set up of their ‘prepaid’ plans is extremely unusual, potentially because they appear to be using their postpaid billing system to provide something that appears to be a prepaid plan. TeleChoice also sell data-only plans.
• 5G Plans:
  TeleChoice offers two 5G plans, ranging from $40 to $55 and including 48GB to 240GB, respectively. However, both 5G plans are prepaid, so postpaid customers are unable to access 5G for now. TeleChoice prepaid 5G plans have a 30-day recharge expiry.
• Included International Calls at higher monthly spend levels:
  Higher value prepaid and postpaid plans (postpaid plans costing $28 or more, for example) come with International calls included, to up to 20 international destinations. Also, all postpaid month-to-month plans and 7 / 13-month plans include unlimited International texts to anywhere in the world.
• Data banking and gifting:
  Telechoice now include data banking on all of is SIM plans. So whether you’re on the smallest postpaid plan or largest prepaid plan, you will be given a 500GB data bank to store your unused plan data. All TeleChoice postpaid and prepaid SIM plans also include a data gifting feature that allows users send 2GB to 45GB of data (depending on which plan tier) to other users per month or recharge.
• Phones on a contract:
  Additionally, you can purchase a mobile phone from TeleChoice on a payment plan and bundle it with a SIM only plan on a 24-month contract. This is great, because not all MVNOs sell handsets on a payment plan, but keep in mind that both the phone and SIM plan become lock-in contracts whenever you purchase a phone on a plan.

For us, TeleChoice do not stand out in the market. Their plans have very basic inclusions (none of the bells and whistles you’ll find elsewhere – we cover the details of the sorts of freebies you can pick up in a phone plan, below).

To be fair, TeleChoice has made some improvements since our last review. For instance, the telco initially didn’t offer a self-service app to customers. Now, however, TeleChoice offers a robust self-service app on both the Playstore and App Store to help customers manage their accounts. (Evidence suggests that self-service apps improve customer satisfaction).

• Offer better value for money than TeleChoice:
  In most cases, the alternative offers we show provide more mobile data, for the same or less $, on an equal network and which do not require you to commit to a contract term. Essentially, our view is that these plans are a better value alternative for you.
• On comparable networks:
  TeleChoice use a proportion of the full Telstra Network, which causes confusion for some people – understandably. The coverage, in square Kilometers, that you’ll get from TeleChoice is about the same as you’ll get from Optus themselves, as well as Optus Network resellers, such as Amaysim, Southern Phone, and others. (See recommended alternative plans, in the table above.)
• If you want access to the Telstra mobile network, consider Boost Mobile  and Belong Mobile, both of which offer choice and also use the Telstra Mobile Network.

• You want wide variety of options:
  TeleChoice have a relatively large plan range offering, which is unusual for a network reseller. Network resellers usually try and keep things simple for their customers. TeleChoice have chosen to offer a range of both postpaid month-to-month plans, long expiry plans, data-only plans, and prepaid plans. In our view, TeleChoice’s range is confusing, especially their 7 and 13-month plans. If you agree and you want to keep it simple, we recommend you focus just on the month-to-month plans.
• You want international calls in your plan:
  TeleChoice is one provider who offer this benefit. In our view, International Calls is either a key decision criteria for customers or it’s not. If you need International Minutes as part of your plan, consider reviewing our International Calls page.

• You want better value:
  Most users will find they get better value per GB of mobile data from the alternative phone plans that we list on this page, than they will from TeleChoice.
• Want access to the full Telstra Mobile Network but don’t want to pay Telstra rates?
  Boost Mobile also have 4G and 5G speeds included in their pricing on the Telstra Mobile Network. If you’re between those two specific price points, make sure you are comparing TeleChoice equally. Remember, TeleChoice’s plans include International calls – Boost’s don’t. And some of the data that Boost offer can only be used during the weekend; TeleChoice’s can be used at any time.
• This is especially true if you live in a city:
  Our view is that if you live in a city, you can get better rates with a Vodafone or Optus network reseller. The network Telstra resell through their MVNO partners is a fair amount smaller than their own retail network. The reason Telstra has done this is clear. Their stated goal is to offer a wholesale plan range with comparable coverage and speed to Vodafone and Optus, through partners like TeleChoice. As a result, you may as well just take the cheaper alternative, especially in cities. There has been a lot of news recently about the improved quality of the Vodafone network. You might not believe it, but the Vodafone 4G network is actually just as good as the Telstra 4G these days.
• You want sport in your plan:
  Telstra, Optus, and some others offer free included sport in their phone plans.

Last updated on July 30th, 2024

TeleChoice were given 4G network access by Telstra’s wholesale department in May 2015. The key things you need to know about the network TeleChoice use are:

• Their 3G coverage is about the same as Optus’
  You’ll get 3G speeds when you are out of range of the Telstra reseller 4G network, or if you have an older, 3G phone which can’t use the 4G network. The Telstra’s 3G network isn’t bad for speeds. If you’re like most people, you’ll judge the quality of the Telstra 3G network by whether or not you can watch a YouTube clip on it – and you can. And it’s great for coverage. It reaches 2.5m square Km of Australia, which is 99% of the population.
• 4G coverage
  Network resellers like TeleChoice don’t get access to the entire Telstra 4G network. They’re provided a proportion of it. TeleChoice’s SIMs enable access to around 94% of the population with their 4G access. This aspect of the network is limited to 100Mbps, which is so fast it’s not a practical limitation at all. Telechoice cite their typical download speeds as 2-50Mbps, using the Telstra 4G network.
• 5G coverage
  Telechoice also resells Telstra’s 5G network, which currently reaches at least 75 percent of the population. As of the time os this review, Telstra’s network had the widest 5G coverage in Australia, giving TeleChoice an advantage here.
• Who else uses this network?
  Telstra resell their 3G, 4G, and 5G networks to a number of other smaller phone companies. Woolworths, ALDImobile, and Boost Mobile.

Ultimately, the provision of 4G through network resellers like TeleChoice leveled the playing field with Optus resellers who had had it for some time previously. Telstra’s reseller base, offering 4G to 97.9% of the population, is comparable to Optus’ 4G network ( which MVNOs like Amaysim provide ). Optus now cover 98.5% of the Australian population of the population with their 4G network.

If you’d like more information on Australian network comparisons, read our article.