Our family has a few phones and like most we have been looking for alternatives as CDMA closes and this has caused us to examine our whole phone usage pattern with a view to keeping costs under control, consistent with satisfactory range.
There are a million options and plans out there so for this post I am just using approximations and limiting my total maximum cost considerations to $30 per month with a preference for under $15 month.
We currently have a couple of CDMA telstra and Optus GSM and had the odd Three and Vodaphone.
I mostly use a Kyocera 3245 cdma , averaging 1 call/text per day and only about once every 3 months connect it to an external aerial.
Being mostly in
Melbourne with weekly country trips we have had good opportunities to monitor the actual practical effectiveness of the networks in our area and while there is no doubt that Telstra CDMA gives best coverage we have also noted
that very few calls are lost or not made when using the Optus network.
An examination of Victorian coverage maps backs this observation up.
Also its worth remembering that phones with external aerial capabilies can be connected to other networks like Optus and Telstra GSM and this enables you to maximize the GSM range out to its 36km limit and this basically covers a large area which may be enough to enable you to
sign up to a lower call cost carrier.
When looking at phone replacement plans we noted also that most kids in our area use Optus pre-paid and there is a good reason for this which is that for a $30 recharge voucher they get $150 of calls to any number.
Virtually no one but me was using Telstra GSM/CDMA as their best offer these days is basically 5 min calls for $1 to any number.
Leaving out internal promotions, the general base cost of calls on most networks is still an amazingly high 45c (approx) per 30 seconds.
Connection costs are also similar so the bottom line here is that $30 Optus pre-paid gives a lot more calls to any number than Telstra.
In obtaining a new phone there are two other major consideration, the type of phone, and wether or not to buy on a phone plan as all operators offer packages
at better rates fundamentally designed to lock you in.
Again there are a million options and we narrowed this down to 4 we consider capable of doing the 4wding support job (i.e. must have a NextG option).
Samsung A411 family ($20/mth plan $480 min) ($200 phone cost )
LG TU550 ($30 plan $720 min)
Nokia 6120 ($30 plan $720 min) ($300->$600 phone cost )
Telstra F165 ($30 plan $720 min) ($600 phone cost)
We prefer the candy bar type styling over flip phones and so with all of the above in mind I would probably choose the F165 despite its hassles I have read about in other
forum posts.
However its current high price, particularly if you wish pre-paid, is a real barrier.
Because we need more than one phone we have come up with an interim solution which is proving quite effective and appears as good as my 3245.
We purchased a new Nokia 6120 for $300 via Ebay.
(The 6120 is the only one above with no external aerial socket and hence no Telstra blue tick )
These new phones all have sim cards unlike CDMA and hence we are able to use 1 sim card for Telstra NextG and another for the bulk of calls via Optus.
They have different numbers of course but overall this system is working
well and gives us lower call costs when needed and more range for the few occasions when its required.
Both Telstra and Optus have long credit expiry options now ($30 for 6 months approx) so the minimum total cost of the pre-paid phone can be significantly lower than "Plan" costs and this system also allows you to buy more time when required instead of paying
all the time for calls you may not make and also the kids can't overspend.
This phone is full of gimmicks and has small buttons but its pretty effective with a large screen, good loudspeaker, good sensitivity and camera.
Not sure if its the phone I will end up with but its flexibility in being able to also use a "second best network" will mean it is not wasted and will cover us thru the CDMA transition and allow a more informed choice for my own long term phone.
Robin Miller