Belong offers mobile plans built for data lovers.
Founded back in 2013 under the aim of disrupting the Australian broadband market with value-priced ADSL and NBN plans, Belong branched out in October 2017 by adding SIM-only mobile phone plans to its repertoire. Operating on parts of Telstra's 4G and 3G networks, these plans are targeted squarely at heavy data users, packing plenty of GBs at the expense of only being able to receive phone calls by default. To make outgoing calls, you'll need to purchase a separate call pack add-on.
Belong's mobile plans are strictly SIM-only, post-paid affairs, with minimal options for customisation. They all come with a no lock-in, month-to-month contract giving you the freedom to cancel at any time without having to pay any termination fees.
Belong SIM-only plans
Belong offers two simple SIM-only plans, each of which can be upgraded to include unlimited national calls and text or unlimited international calls and texts to select countries. The two plans are as follows:
- Regular 5GB data plan, which comes with 5GB of data for $25 a month
- Large 15GB data plan, which comes with 15GB of data for $40 a month
For those looking to make phone calls in addition to browsing the Internet, Belong offers two add-on packs. The national calls and texts pack includes unlimited calls and texts to Australian landlines and mobiles along with unlimited calls to 13 and 1800 numbers, all for an extra $5 a month.
The international call pack includes all that plus unlimited calls and texts to standard numbers in China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, the UK and the USA along with unlimited texts to mobiles in Austria, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, France, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam. You'll be looking at $10 extra a month to add the international call pack to either of Belong's plans.
How does Belong compare?
With such a singular focus on data-heavy mobile plans, it's not surprising that Belong is one of the more competitive providers in its particular corner of the market. Compared to other providers like TeleChoice and CMobile that also operate on Telstra's network, Belong offers some of the best value around.
That said, Belong stumbles when compared with providers operating on Optus's network. Virgin Mobile and amaysim, for instance, both offer plans with superior dollar-to-data ratios, plus they come with unlimited national calls and texts packed in by default. amaysim's plans are billed on a 28-day basis, though, which means they could eventually cost you more in the (extremely) long run.
To see how Belong's Regular plan stacks up against similarly-priced month-to-month SIM-only plans, take a look at the table below:
Despite having the cheapest plan of the bunch, once you've factored in the $5 extra a month to get unlimited calls, Belong's Regular plan ends up roughly on par with its primary competitors.
If you're looking for something with a few more GBs under its belt, here's how Belong's Large plan fares against the offerings of other Aussie providers:
It's here that Belong struggles to keep up with its competitors. amaysim's 15GB plan clocks in at the same price but comes with unlimited national calls already included, while Vaya's Unlimited 13GB plan offers less data but comes with unlimited national calls and 200 minutes' worth of international calls bundled in.
Why should you consider Belong?
Though adding on a call pack is relatively cheap, Belong's mobile plans are mainly for the always-connected crowd wanting to browse Facebook and stream Spotify while they're on the go. Along with the competitively priced data caps and the benefit of Telstra's high-speed 4G network, both plans also support data banking and data gifting, allowing you to roll over any unused data from one month to the next or send that unused data in 1GB chunks to other Belong mobile users.
Belong is also one of the only mobile providers that doesn't charge excess usage fees if you go over your monthly data limit. Instead, going over your cap simply slows your Internet speed down to 64kbps for the rest of your billing cycle, ensuring you don't end up with bill shock come the end of the month. Alternatively, you can purchase extra data at half the price most providers charge: a 2GB top-up will set you back just $10.
To top it all off, Belong is currently offering a one-off welcome gift to all new customers who sign up before 31 March 2018. Going with the Regular plan will get you an extra 10GB of data, while signing up for the Large plan will score you an additional 30GB of data.
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does belong use the same coverage as telstra and if show how much less.
Hi Tariq,
Thanks for your question. Belong uses parts of Telstra’s network, so it does not offer the same coverage as Telstra itself. To see what parts of the network Belong operates on, you can check out the coverage map on the Belong website.
Regards,
Matt
I bought an iphone6 from JB Hifi for a xmas present. I was told by the salesman that the Belong Sim he gave me will work in this Telstra locked phone. It doesn’t.
It just gives you a “Sim not Valid” error.
Please help :(
Hi Michael,
Thanks for reaching out.
Generally, a device is locked if you’ve purchased a phone for prepaid use, and especially if you purchased it directly from the carrier. To give you a quick guide in unlocking a Testra mobile, you may go ahead and check this page.
To give you more options, you may also want to visit this page as this will give you instructions on how you can attempt to network unlock your Iphone.
Hope this helps,
Joanne
I have been gifted two $40 Belong ‘dataful sim’ cards….I live in country SA and used my phone’s ‘WLAN tethering’ connection to get to the outside world. I do not have any ‘landline’ services.
I am currently on Amaysim where I pay $50 for 14GB data and unlimited talk and text within Australia. Amaysim is good but is on the Optus network which I have found less than reliable in my area (which is only 50 kilometers from Adelaide, in the Barossa Valley).
Checking out Belong, I see that for $40 I can get 15 GB per month (5 more GB than Amaysim) – and by adding $5 to that I get unlimited calls and SMS within Australia.
If this is correct (a) I save $5 per month, (b) I get an extra 5GB and (c) I am connected to ‘the world’ via TELSTRA not via Optus…
If this is correct, it would seem I would be better off swapping to Belong than staying with Amaysim. Comments?
Can you also confirm that Belong is on the ‘mainstream’ Telstra lines — not something which is regarded as ‘second stream’? In other words, Belong gets the full Telstra streaming/phone access, not some second-rate or down-graded access?
DO YOU CONCUR with this? Have I missed something?
Thanks for your response.
Regards
RUSS
Hi Russ,
Thanks for your enquiry. While Belong’s $40 plan does offer more than you’re currently getting for a cheaper price, amaysim also offers a $40 SIM-only plan with 15GB of data and unlimited national calls and texts. As such, you could switch from your current amaysim plan to the $40 one to save yourself $10 a month while getting an extra 1GB of data to boot. Check out our breakdown of amaysim’s plans for more info.
If you’re keen on switching to Telstra’s network, however, you’ll want to know that Belong only operates on parts of Telstra’s network – this means, as you pointed out, that it doesn’t get you the full coverage of Telstra’s network. It could still offer better service than your currently getting, though, and you might want to take up the Belong plan for a single month just to see what it is like at your home.
I hope this helps!
Regards,
Matt