Compare the best mobile plans for teenagers

Pick of the plans: Which plans are best?

While there’s no absolute "best" plan that will suit every teen and parent, we've selected what we believe are excellent choices for a variety of needs and budgets.

Best plans for tweens

Rationale: They’re not quite teenagers, but you can’t quite treat them the way you would a high school kid just yet. As such, prepaid plans with decent calling allowances but a moderate quantity of data would suit well.

Best choices:

You don’t have to spend a fortune for a basic unlimited calls package with a chunk of data thrown in as well. ALDImobile’s Telstra-4G-backed Small Value Pack includes unlimited calls and texts, with 3GB data for moderate internet use. A 30-day recharge costs $15, and then you can opt for an extra 1GB data for $10, or 3GB for $15 with an option to roll over any unused data.

Similarly, Lebara's Extra Small plan includes the standard 3GB data, with a bonus 2GB thrown in as well. You can enjoy an additional 300 international minutes on top of the unlimited calls and texts in this plan.

Best plans for talking teens

Rationale: It’s like, your teenager, like, likes to talk. If that sentence sounded suspiciously familiar, then congratulations! You’ve got a heavily talking teen. The good part here is you don’t have to spend a fortune on data services, but you may have to spend a little, given that communication between teenagers isn’t just talking. All those selfies and video calls can chew away at a data allowance too.

Best choices:

Catch Connect is a powerhouse in the budget-priced mobile space and its $25 SIM-only plan is an excellent choice for talkative teens. Along with unlimited standard calls and texts, it comes with a sizeable 11GB of monthly data for surfing the social networks.

OVO's MiniPlus SIM-only plan is equally attractive. It, too, includes unlimited standard talk and text but only 4GB of data. That's offset by its cheaper price: $14.95/month.

Best plans for always-online teens

Rationale: Older teens, or those with specific online interests, whether it’s watching their favourite shows on Netflix or just perusing the odder corners of the Internet (be careful out there!) can chew through quite a bit of data. For these teens, there’s good sense in investing in a plan with a fair chunk of data already in the plan; while you can usually buy additional data packs, they’re almost always a more expensive proposition than raising your initial funding to score more data. Bear in mind with prepaid you can always slide up or down a prepaid recharge scale to meet predicted needs.

Best choices:

OVO emerges as a top choice for teens wanting the freedom to browse abundantly on the go. Its $29.95 prepaid plan packs in an impressive 30GB of data plus 100 minutes of international calls. If that's not enough, OVO's $34.95 plan increases the cap to 50GB and crams in 600 minutes' worth of international calls.

If coverage is a concern, Lycamobile's $40 prepaid plan couples plenty of data with the strength of Telstra's mobile network. That $40 recharge gets you 45GB of regular data and a 5GB bonus, which is more than enough to keep you connected while you're out and about.

What to consider when comparing mobile plans for teenagers

Matching a plan to a teenager is tricky because as with any mobile plan, there's no single plan that's ideal for everybody. One constant, however, is the need for plenty of data to fuel their online lifestyle. That's only the tip of the iceberg, however, and bill-paying parents will want to ask themselves the following key questions:

• Am I paying for communication or information?
  Many parents only want their younger children to be able to phone or text home on basic security grounds. That's still true of teenagers (and possibly a bigger concern as they stay out later), but it's not the only reason that a teenager will want or need a phone. It's as much about sharing selfies or streaming media as it is about phoning home.
• Prepaid or postpaid?
  Teenagers tend to have a better grasp on money than their younger counterparts, but protection from overspending still makes going prepaid a solid choice. Keep in mind, however, that prepaid plans typically offer less data than their postpaid counterparts. If you're always topping up their prepaid plan because the data's running out, you might be better off signing up to a postpaid plan instead.
• Who's paying for it?
  Does your teenager have a part-time job? If they're able to fund their plan themselves, you might be able to teach them a little about budgeting on the way while also giving them greater independence.

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