Amaysim Australian SIM card

Amaysim is a new mobile service that offers low prices for calls, text messages and data with excellent coverage on the Optus network.

Amaysim is simple to understand

Most Australian mobile services, have confusing rate plans that include flagfalls (a connection charge of up to 40c per call on top of the per minute cost) and misleading capped plans (where the mobile network makes a big deal about giving you something like $100 of value for $20 while glossing over important details like the fact that your calls can cost around 90c per minute with a minimum monthly commitment even if you make very few calls). Amaysim is different. It is unique among Australian mobile phone services in that its call charges are actually easy to understand, and not only that, they’re the cheapest deal available on the Australian market. Amaysim has a simple 15c per minute charge for standard calls to landlines and mobile phones in Australia, 15c text messages and 15.4c per MB for data, plus no flagfall and no minimum monthly spend.

On amaysim's basic As You Go tariff you get:

• 15c per minute standard calls to landlines and mobile phones in Australia. Any network, anytime!
• 29c per minute to 13 numbers (similar to 0845 numbers in the UK).
• No flagfall, Australia-wide. The per-minute call rate is all you pay!
• Cheap international calls. Calls to landlines in Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are just 6c per minute. Calls to mobile phones in these countries are 16–19c per minute.
• No charge to receive calls. All incoming calls are free!
• No minimum contract term or minimum fees.
• Easy to activate online and when you activate you get offered a choice of phone numbers to choose from – please note: you cannot activate your mobile service before you arrive in Australia.
• 15.4c per MB data. If you’re a heavy data user, it is best to go for one of the Unlimited plans that come with a generous bundle of data.
• Credit is valid for 365 days (except the 1GB data pack, which lasts for 30 days)
• Excellent coverage on the Optus network, which covers 98.5% of the Australian population.

Cheaper tariffs for heavy phone users

Cheaper tariffs are available if you use your phone a lot. Although there are no contracts, these rate plans have a 30 day billing cycle, which means that a change to a different tariff will not become effective until the end of a current billing cycle (although you can switch from the As You Go tariff at any time).

The above Unlimited tariffs give you a bundle of inclusive calls and data to use each month.

What do international calls cost?

Amaysim is a good value option if you plan on making lots of international calls. Call costs to amaysim's 20 most frequently called countries are as follows:

Check amaysim's full price table for the cost of calls to other countries. As with all Australian mobile networks, it is always free to recieve calls (including international calls).

Fast data on the Optus 4G+ LTE network

The amaysim Australian SIM card gives you coverage on the complete Optus 4G LTE network. Unlike some other SIM cards your data speed is not restricted with amaysim and you will get the fastest available data speed that your phone and the network will allow. LTE 4G is now available in most towns and cities in Australia and where 4G is not available (or if your phone doesn't support 4G) your phone will access fast data on the Optus 3G network.

Can I use it in an Apple iPhone?

The amaysim will work in your iPhone as long as your iPhone is unlocked. You will need to contact your mobile operator to have your phone unlocked and bear in mind that unlocking an iPhone is a more complex procedure than most other phones and will involve a reset in iTunes. Depending on your home network, it can take up to one week to unlock an iPhone. Apple iPhones purchased from an Apple store are usually already unlocked and ready to use with any SIM card. As long as your phone is unlocked, it will work with all services including voice, text messages and data. The amaysim SIM card is designed to be used both as a regular mini SIM card (for the original iPhone, iPhone 3 and iPhone 3Gs) and as a micro SIM (for the Apple iPhone 4). As the Apple iPhone 4 is an eight-band phone (four GSM bands and four 3G bands), it will also work on the 900Mhz 3G band giving you fast data access in remote areas of rural Australia. Earlier 3G iPhones (the iPhone 3G and 3Gs) will give you 3G data access in most large towns and cities but will download data on the slower 2G network in rural areas.

Can I use it in an Apple iPad?

No problem. The amaysim SIM card comes as a micro SIM that fits in the iPad allowing you to access Optus' comprehensive 3G network. The iPad 2 also gives you access to the 900MHz 3G band giving you fast data access in remote rural areas of Australia.

It is recomended that you pay $10 for the 1GB data pack, which gives you 30 days to use 1GB of data. Without this data pack, data is charged at the standard rate of 15.4c per MB.

What’s the coverage like?

Amaysim has excellent coverage using the Optus network, which covers 97% of Australia's population. Over the last few years Optus has been expanding its network coverage by an average of two new base stations a day. The Optus network gives you regular GSM coverage on the 900Mhz GSM band throughout most parts of Australia with 2100Mhz 3G coverage in most large towns and cities. If you have a phone that includes the 900Mhz 3G band (as opposed to the 900Mhz GSM band), such as the iPhone 4, you get even better coverage including 3G coverage on rural highways and remote outback communities.

How do I add credit?

You can either buy additional credit online through the amaysim website, by calling amaysim on 567 from your mobile in Australia or 1300 808 300 from any other phone. Alternatively you can buy credit vouchers from over 14,000 locations throughout Australia including 7-Eleven convenience stores, Caltex petrol stations and Woolworths supermarkets. Vouchers come in $10, $20, $30 and $50 denominations.

FAQ

Will the SIM card work in my mobile phone?

The amaysim Australian mobile phone SIM card will work in any unlocked GSM mobile phone that operates at the 900Mhz and 1800Mhz bands. This includes virtually all dual-band mobile phones from Europe and the UK.

How do I know if my phone is locked?

Before you travel put the amaysim (or any other SIM that's not from your regular mobile network) into your phone and turn it on. If your phone shows a network name it is unlocked, if it says something like "Network locked" or "SIM locked" then your phone is locked into your home network.

How can I unlock my phone?

If you’re still in the UK it is relatively easy to unlock your phone. If you are on a contract you can simply call up your regular mobile network’s customer service and ask them to unlock your phone. This will usually involve them giving you a code, which you enter into your phone to unlock it and make it compatible with SIM cards from all networks. Many networks will do this free of charge if you are a good customer, but some networks may charge you for this service. Alternatively you can go to a small independent mobile phone shop and pay them around £10 to get your phone unlocked (larger mobile phone shops may not offer this service but most small independent shops will). It is more difficult if you are already in Australia, as many Australian mobile phone shops don’t know how to unlock phones, especially phones on a foreign network. However there are several websites where you can generate codes to unlock your phone. These sites include Trycktill and Unlock it Free. If you are in Australia you can also try making an international call to your home mobile company to get an unlocking code, but occasionally you need to be calling from within that network’s coverage area (depending on your mobile network at home). You can read more about unlocking your mobile phone here.