Using your mobile / cell phone when traveling in Australia.

If you're going to be traveling through Australia for more than a few days then it is best to obtain an Australian prepaid SIM card for your phone.  It will save you money and give you an Aussie phone number so that locals can easily contact you.  If you use your overseas SIM card in Aus the roaming charges can be very expensive.  An Australian SIM in your phone is the cheapest option and will save you money when calling locally and most have cheap call rates and deals for overseas calls.

Australia is a vast place with a relatively low population base, so do not expect your phone to work everywhere.  Of course coverage is excellent in the populated city, suburban and many coastal areas - but not necessarily so in the bush and the outback.  Major highways have pretty good coverage but once off the main highways your phone will not necessarily have coverage between the major towns.  Thus ensure you have your voicemail activated, and wait until you get to a town before trying to make a call - and checking your voicemail messages.

Costs and recharging:

All Australian mobile SIM’s have free incoming calls and text messages.  You will only pay for outgoing calls and messages.  The credits on your phone are considered in $ terms, not minutes like in North America.  Different types of calls may have different $ rates when you call out.

To top-up (refill/recharge) your prepay SIM with additional $ credits is simple.  The easiest option is to buy vouchers that have a PIN number from the many thousands of stores throughout the country - petrol/gas stations, corner stores, supermarkets etc.  Alternatively use your credit card over the phone or online via a web services account that you can set up with your prepaid SIM account.

Networks:

All Australian mobiles will have a ‘04’ phone number prefix.  These numbers are not geographically specific and thus will cost the same to call you from anywhere in the country.  In addition your outgoing calls will cost the same whether you are calling someone in Brisbane or Perth.

The three networks for GSM and 3G are Telstra, Vodafone and Optus.  All other networks rely on a shared service arrangement with one of the three.  For example AAPT uses the Vodafone network and Virgin uses the Optus network.  All three have relatively comparable coverage with all having their own positives and negatives.

Registration/activation:

Registering a PrePay SIM in Oz may seem complicated to some overseas people and is due to Australian security laws but it is actually quite straight forward.  You will need a local address and perhaps a local landline phone number when you go to register the SIM.  In this case tourists and backpackers will use the details of their hostel or hotel where they first or primarily stay.  You will often also need to provide your ID details - just use your overseas passport number and expiry date if required.  Most Pay As You Go SIM cards can be registered this way over the internet before you arrive.  Or alternatively call the network provider when you arrive in Australia and a customer service person will help you.  The SIM's we sell come with full help instructions and backup support.

Your Phone:

First you will need a phone that is compatible with the GSM 900/1800 standard.  Australia uses the same standard as Europe and the rest of the world - excluding North America.  So if you have a European phone it will work fine.  If you have a Canadian or USA GSM phone you will need to ensure that it is triband or preferably quadband.

Next you will need to ensure that your phone is unlocked.  This means that it is released to work on networks other than the one it is presently on.  The easiest way to check this is to borrow a friends SIM card from another network and try it in your phone.  If it works then your phone is unlocked.  If you find it is locked then there are ways to unlock it.  Many older phones, especially Nokia's, can be unlocked online for free.  Or contact your existing network provider, and they have an obligation to unlock it for you and may charge a fee for such a service.  Contact us for info on free help and online mobile unlocking sites.

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