Can anyone interpret Oz mobile phone plans for me please?

[mm22bys]

I have looked on-line for mobile phone plans in Oz, and I don't understand the jargon - what are "caps" etc?

I am on a "plan" here in England that gives me 500 minutes and 100 texts a month for a set cost each month.

I want something that's that simple in Oz.

It seems in Oz, there are "caps", so you get a blend of minutes and texts, but it seems you get charged a flag fall fee for every call, in addition to the per minute rate?

Optus, and its PAYG plans just completely stumped me.

Where can I go for a simple x number of minutes and texts per month?

A cap plan is where for a fixed amount per month you will get a 'capped' amount of credit. The credit usually incorporates calls, SMS, MMS, GPRS and includes the flagfall.
eg. $29 for $200 worth of "calls". Once you have used the capped credit you pay per call.

You can't get minutes as a plan because as you already noticed the plan allows you to use all the different services in the cap.

Some contracts will allow you to connect and then pay as you go, but each call will cost more, so if you use your phone a lot you will not get good value for money.

Pre paid is the other option, again not as economical, but some providers have some good deals

Great, thanks for this. I had a "blended" plan for a while here (England), and it worked out pretty well.

I might just go for PAYG till I know my usage and till we know it's going to be worthwhile to commit to a contract (I gather they're mostly for 24 months there....we don't yet know if we are going to stay for "good", let's just say it's a trial run :-))

Thanks for your response!