Boost ups data and lowers expiry on prepaid plans
Boost has increased the amount of data available on its prepaid SIM-only plans, but it’s hopped up the price on its baseline plan and shaved time off its expiry in the process.
Boost is Telstra’s budget prepaid arm, pitched predominantly at the youth market. That’s a market that likes data on its mobile plans. In one respect Boost’s new prepaid plans will have some appeal, with the baseline plan jumping from 1GB/recharge to 1.5GB, while the $40 recharge jumps from 3GB to 5GB. There’s also a new $50 tier with 7GB of data on offer.
Boost’s extra data weekends (where you get extra data allowance to use on Saturdays and Sundays) also apply to the newly rejigged plans, but they’ve been tweaked. Previously the two Boost tiers offered 500MB ($20) and 2GB ($40) of weekend data per month, but it’s now a flat 1GB irrespective of your recharge tier. Boost is also dropping its differentiated plan names, with all plans now dubbed UNLTD+
That’s the good news. On the downside, Boost has also upped the price you’ll pay for the lowest-cost tier. The old ULTRA plan cost $20 a month, but the newly rechristened ULTD+ plans start at $25 per recharge.
Boost is also changing the expiry on all of its plans. Previously Boost plans had an expiry of 30 days, but that’s now been shaved down to 28 days instead. 28-day expiry plans are on the surface bad news for consumers, because you pay more over a year in terms of recharges. However, the amount of data you get per day may end up being higher.
It’s worth doing your sums carefully to work out if a given 28-day plan is good value for you. Boost has indicated that existing customers can opt to remain on the older plans if they wish, as long as they continue recharging.
Here are the basic details for Boost’s new ULTD+ plans, which kick in from today.
Boost Mobile | Cost | Expiry | Data | Calls | Text |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boost Mobile $25 UNLTD+ | $25 | 28 days | 1.5GB+1GB per weekend | 100 minutes | Unlimited |
Boost Mobile $40 UNLTD+ | $40 | 28 days | 5GB+1GB per weekend | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Boost Mobile $50 UNLTD+ | $50 | 28 days | 7GB+1GB per weekend | Unlimited | Unlimited |
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