
Get exclusive tech offers and guides
Straight to your inbox
Updated . What changed?
We’re reader-supported and may be paid when you visit links to partner sites. We don’t compare all products in the market, but we’re working on it!
Belong is entirely owned by Telstra, but has plans at a lower cost than its parent company. It has the added distinction of promising carbon neutrality on all its mobile plans. With Belong, you get a choice of two plans: 10GB or 40GB, with no contracts involved.
Belong Mobile is Australia's first certified carbon-neutral telco. Any carbon emissions associated with operating its mobile and Internet services is offset by its investments in renewable energy and carbon-capture projects.
Highlights
Belong keeps it simple and straightforward with two mobile plans to choose from. Both plans fall under Belong's carbon-neutral guarantee, where it'll offset all related carbon emissions.
Belong offers two SIM only mobile plans month to month, with no lock-in contracts.
Belong will not charge you for excess data use beyond your limit. Instead, it will shape your connection to 64kbps, though you can purchase a 2GB data top-up for $10 to get full-speed data again.
Options have been kept simple, with the Regular plan suited to those with average data use habits and the Large suited to those who enjoy streaming and downloading a lot while out and about.
While Belong is entirely owned by Telstra, its plans are completely different. We'll do a more direct comparison further down the page.
Whether Belong measures up to Telstra depends on what you want. Think of Belong as a cheaper and simpler version of Telstra that lacks all the added features and extras. Telstra will appeal to some people and Belong to others, but neither is objectively better.
Belong was started by Telstra back in 2013 as an Internet provider, but expanded into the mobile market as well a while back.
Not many mobile providers have set them apart in the same way as Belong by being carbon neutral, something Telstra itself is still working to achieve.
Here are the main features of Belong mobile plans:
In addition to the main ones above, Belong has a couple of other extras on its plans:
Data banking is an uncommon feature for SIM only postpaid plans (usually prepaid plans will feature a data bank), so it could make Belong worthwhile. Still, if you're ending up with heaps of data left over each month, you might be better off simply downgrading to a mobile plan with less monthly data – unless you want to gift it to your friends on Belong, of course.
Feature | |
---|---|
Excess usage warning | ![]() |
Entertainment extras | ![]() |
Data-free media streaming | ![]() |
Rollover data | ![]() |
Data sharing | ![]() |
International calls/texts | ![]() |
International roaming | ![]() |
Rewards program | ![]() |
Student/pensioner discounts | ![]() |
Belong doesn't stand out too strong with its two mobile plans. Its $40 for 40GB plan is average for that price point in the market, offering data at a rate of $1 per 1GB, but you'll find much better deals than 10GB for $25.
Without any extras to set it apart, the main draw of Belong is its status as the only declared carbon-neutral mobile provider in Australia. Even its parent company, Telstra, doesn't tick this box yet, so if you need 40GB a month you can do a small favour for the environment by choosing Belong. Otherwise, Belong is only okay for what it offers and you could always compare a SIM only plan from competitors like Circles.Life or Moose Mobile which might give you more bang for your buck.
We took Belong's best-value plan and lined it up against similar ones from Telstra (its parent company) and Mate (another MVNO SIM only provider).
Belong | Telstra | Mate Mobile | |
---|---|---|---|
Plan name | Large 40GB | Small 40GB | Soul Mates 40GB |
Plan cost | $40 | $55 | $40 |
Data allowance | 40GB | 40GB | 40GB |
Features | Data bank, data gifting, international inclusions, no excess data charge | Data-free sports and music streaming, Telstra Air, Telstra Plus rewards, no excess data charge | Data banking, international inclusions, Australian customer support |
As you can see, Belong is highly comparable to the Mate plan, offering about the same in the way of extra features. It's cheaper than Telstra and omits the entertainment extras and other Telstra-specific features, but comes out at a better dollar per data value.
Belong's "no excess data charge" feature is also not as good as Telstra's. Telstra will reduce your speed to about 1.5Mbps past your full speed data, while Belong drops to a snail's pace of just 64kbps. 1.5Mbps is semi-usable, but 64kbps isn't even really close to 4% of Telstra's reduced speed.
When Belong claims to be carbon neutral, it isn't claiming to produce zero carbon emissions. Rather, it offsets 100% of its carbon emissions by investing in various schemes and projects.
These projects involve wind farms, solar parks and others that meet criteria set by Climate Active. Climate Active is a carbon-neutral initiative that is backed by the Australian government. You can find out more on Belong's website.
No. You won't be able to use your Belong mobile plan overseas under any circumstances.
You can make calls and send texts to international destinations from Australia. The $40 plan includes unlimited standard calls and texts to 30 countries by default. You can add the same to the $25 plan for an extra $5 per month.
You can purchase a Belong SIM and mobile plan from this page, using the comparison table above. Simply buy the plan you want and a SIM will be delivered to you.
Otherwise, you can purchase a Belong SIM from the Belong Mobile website or in person at stores including Coles, Officeworks and JB HiFi.
Icons made by Those Icons, Freepik & Flat Icons from www.flaticon.com
You can get international roaming on most of Telstra’s postpaid mobile plans for just $10 a day.
It’s never been a better time to switch mobile plans than now. Prices have dropped by 17% compared to last year, and over 50% since 5 years ago.
Optus is finally offering “unlimited” data on its SIM-only plans, but how does it compare to “unlimited” data from Telstra & Vodafone?
MyNetFone offers a range of mobile plans for your business, with a dedicated app to keep track of your spending.
Top deals include 500GB for $55 from Vodafone, triple the data from Circles.Life and 50% off amaysim long expiry plans.
TPG’s new MVNO, Felix, comes with ‘unlimited’ data but at capped speeds. Is it worth it, or are there better plans out there?
For the Finder Green Awards, we did quite a bit of in-depth research to find Australia's greenest telcos. Check out the winners + our methodology.
Find the best mobile plan deals for the biggest iPhone ever - the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
The iPhone 12 mini is now available for pre-order from the major providers, but how does it compare to the budget iPhone SE?
Optus is launching a digital-only, budget-friendly MVNO service provider in Australia. It potentially bodes well for competition in the mobile space.
Get no excess data charges on these unlimited data mobile plans.
Save money with these top no-contract deals.
Avoid bill shock and control your spending with the best-value offers.
Easily compare every Australian iPhone plan.