Belong lets you build the data up anyway so even though you might start with 15 GB or whatever even if you don’t use it much it can be just as good. I didn’t use mine too much then suddenly had to checked the data balance and I had 320 GB.
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I had a look at this, they’ve done well at the lower end (where Telstra simply doesn’t bother anymore), but their mid and top-tier plans aren’t as competitive against Telstra as I expected for the hype.
Having full Telstra network access does put them in a tier all their own though
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I got a 60GB bonus from Amaysim to use until the end of the year as “compensation” for the outage.
It’s owned by Optus.
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I would be tempted for a yearly plan if they did esim (they say they’re working on it - not real hard I bet)… and also supported Apple Watch One Number (unlikely for a while). I possibly could be swayed on the latter but for some reason I no longer want a physical sim having switched to esim - via the Telstra app no less - a year or so ago. Esim was very handy when I gave my son a phone for his birthday last year. Went with Woolworths Mobile (they’ve changed name to Everyday Mobile now 
) and had it all connected in no time while out at dinner.
Hmm, both of these would be deal breakers for a primary service - but I could live without the latter for a backup service
I think I prefer a physical SIM… I might be wrong, but could an eSIM make it easier for someone to ‘steal’ your number?
At least with a physical SIM, you have to go in store, show ID etc to get a new/replacement SIM. Not as convenient, but may be more secure?
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If someone stole your identity they could walk in and get a SIM swap at the Telstra store for example or even call the contact centre and reset access. So yes it’s a bit easier but it isn’t inherritently less secure as you still need to be appropriately authenticates with MFA to perform the SIM swap.
I was testing out Telstra prepaid eSIM recently and for at least a day I couldn’t move the SIM over due to an error I received when I tried. I don’t understand why they are delaying it. It makes changing providers so much more convenient as you don’t need to buy a $2 SIM.
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Wouldn’t they need to show ID though?
It would be harder to do if you have to do it in person.
Yes you would but the person who stole your identity could create a fake ID fairly easily.
You don’t need to go into the store to get a new SIM. Most providers let you buy a $2 and then call up to get it linked to your account to replace the old SIM.
I’m with Moose Mobile. I pay $11 a month (first 6 months) for 16GB, but will go up to $19 after. Super cool deal. They also do data roll over if you have any unused data.
They have a good deal now for 12 months!
(and no im not advertising haha)
You can literally just sign up with a new provider online and then wait for the esim to activate. This is how I did it when I went from Optus to Belong.
“At around 4.05am Wednesday morning, the Optus network received changes to routing information from an international peering network following a routine software upgrade,” Optus said in a statement on Monday.
“There routing information changes propagated through multiple layers in our network and exceeded preset safety levels on key routers which could not handle these.
The statement said the action resulted in routers disconnecting from the Optus IP Core network to protect themselves.
Services went down at about 4.05am, and weren’t fully restored until 5.35pm.
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Not surprised at all, especially since it stopped working at 4am.
There was a report about it on 7 News a few days before this came out pretty much says a lot of the Hardware systems that Optus use are getting on a bit some are to at least 2012 so this update failure is no suprise tbh.
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A separate source close to Optus, who was not authorised to speak publicly, told this masthead that the Singtel Internet Exchange, known as STiX, was the unnamed third-party “partner” that Optus alluded to in a statement on Monday afternoon as the one sending routing information to the telco’s routers on the day of the outage that put them into meltdown.
Optus said those updates were sent “following a routine software upgrade”. The Optus source added that the software update occurred at the Singtel Internet Exchange, not on the Optus network.
Despite the Singtel Internet Exchange being one of the triggers for the outage, an Optus source said the Australian telco was primarily responsible for the outage.
“It’s still Optus’ fault when it comes to its own network (unless Singtel required Optus to accept routes blindly),” an Optus engineer, who was unclear what commercial agreements may have been in place, said.
The source, as well as other external network engineers this masthead spoke to, said Optus should have had filtering rules in place that dismissed or ignored the update from the Singtel exchange.
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I’ve got to say, today felt like some real performative bullshit from our politicians
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