Virgin Mobile drops prepaid plans
SIM-only postpaid and contract phone plans are all that are available with the budget carrier.
Virgin Mobile has quietly dropped its entire range of prepaid SIM-only mobile phone plans from its service offering, leaving it only with month-to-month and 12-month postpaid plans as well as 24-month contract phone plans for a variety of devices, including the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus handsets.
Virgin Mobile had offered a variety of prepaid plans recently, with both 28-day expiry month-to-month plans, long-expiry plans for those who used services minimally but wanted to maintain a phone service, and a straight pay-as-you-go plan for those who preferred to manage their mobile spend that way.
The brand has long positioned itself as a youthful, budget alternative to parent company Optus, who still offers prepaid plans at this point. Virgin Mobile has also taken the step of shuttering its prepaid mobile broadband offering, which means it's shifted fully to postpaid contract-only terms with its customers.
Virgin has supplied the following statement to finder.com.au:
"Virgin Mobile are no longer connecting new Prepaid mobile customers. However existing Prepaid mobile customers can continue to enjoy their service as normal."
I'm a Virgin Mobile prepaid customer. What will this mean to me?
It appears that if you're an existing prepaid subscriber, you'll still be able to use your credit and recharge as normal, but obviously if you let your service lapse, you won't be able to reapply for that same plan – the same as with any previously grandfathered plan.
Likewise, you'll also be stuck with whatever plan inclusions your contract allows for now, with no real prospect of upgrades further down the track unless Virgin decides to reactivate its prepaid plan offerings at some future point.
Looking for a new prepaid plan? Here's what you'll get for $40 and under with Australia's leading carriers:
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