Lycamobile prepaid mobile plans

Lycamobile offers prepaid SIM-only plans with a strong focus on users who need to make lots of international calls.

Lycamobile

It might not be the household name that Telstra and Optus are, but Lycamobile has some serious credentials in the mobile space. With more than 15 million customers across 23 countries, the UK-based telco has established itself as the largest mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the world thanks largely to its focus on cheap international calls.

Lycamobile prepaid plans

• Read more about Lycamobile's prepaid plans

  Here in Australia, Lycamobile delivers its prepaid mobile service over parts of Telstra's 4G network. All its plans include unlimited national talk and text along with a 28-day expiry, while data inclusions range from 1GB a month up to 20GB a month. Two types of prepaid plans are available through Lycamobile: All in One and Unlimited. All in One plans balance low costs with generous call and data inclusions, whereas Unlimited plans sacrifice higher data caps for unlimited international calls to select countries.

  Here are Lycamobile's current prepaid offerings:

  • All in One 10 includes 1GB of data for $10 every 28 days
  • Unlimited Plan XS includes 2GB of data and unlimited calls to 12 countries for $25 every 28 days
  • Unlimited Plan S includes 6GB of data and unlimited calls to 12 countries for $30 every 28 days
  • Unlimited Plan M includes 15GB of data and unlimited calls to 15 countries for $40 every 28 days
  • Unlimited Plan L includes 7GB of data and unlimited calls to 54 countries for $45 every 28 days
  • Unlimited Plan XL includes 20GB of data and unlimited calls to 54 countries for $50 every 28 days

  Countries included in the unlimited call offer are as follows:

  • Unlimited Plan XS/S: Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States
  • Unlimited Plan M: All of the above plus Japan, Peru and Puerto Rico
  • Unlimited Plan L/XL: All of the above plus Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Cyprus Greek, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guinea, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion Island, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and Venezuela

  If you use more than your monthly quota of data, or call countries not included in your unlimited offer, you'll be charged at Lycamobile's standard pay-as-you-go rates. For data, this is 7c per MB you use over your monthly limit. For calls, you can view Lycamobile's current international rates here. Should you find yourself in need of extra data prior to your next recharge, you can also purchase data bolt-ons for a quick top-up. These are available at $5 for 250MB, $10 for 1GB and $25 for 3GB, and last only until your current plan expires.

How does Lycamobile compare?

Lycamobile prides itself on facilitating global communication with a generous bundling of international call inclusions into its prepaid plans. Few other telcos offer as much international value on their prepaid plans, especially at lower price points. Only Lebara and Woolworths Mobile include similar unlimited international call offers on their plans, and Woolworths only does so with its most expensive plan.

This gives Lycamobile a distinct, critical edge over the competition for users with friends, family or business overseas, since plans from providers like amaysim, Kogan Mobile, Coles Mobile and ALDImobile top Lycamobile's offerings on the data front. For example, Lycamobile's $25 Unlimited Plan XS comes with just 2GB of data, whereas amaysim's $20 plan gets you 2.5GB and Coles Prepaid's $20 plan gets you 3GB. Both those plans operate on Optus' slightly smaller and slower 4G network, but if that's a concern, ALDImobile's $25 L plan includes 3GB of base data and also uses parts of Telstra's 4G network.

• Budget plan comparison

  Here's how Lycamobile's Unlimited Plan XS stacks up against similarly-priced offerings:

• Midrange plan comparison

  Moving up to the mid-tier of the prepaid market, Lycamobile hits a sweet spot with its Unlimited Plan M. Combining 15GB of data with unlimited calls to 15 countries for $40, it stands favourably alongside amaysim's similarly-priced 15GB plan and Vodafone's two $40 Combo plans, each of which benefit from an extended 35-day expiry:

• Premium plan comparison

  Lycamobile's top-tier plan fares equally well. The Unlimited Plan XL matches amaysim's 20GB data cap at the $50 price point, placing it at the forefront of high-value, big-data prepaid plans. Coupled with unlimited international calls to 54 countries, this makes it a solid choice for prepaid users who want the biggest bang for their buck.

Why should you consider Lycamobile?

If you spend a lot of time chatting to folks overseas, including unlimited international calls to select countries makes Lycamobile a standout choice in the prepaid space. With the ability to place limitless calls to as many as 54 countries, there's a good chance you will find your preferred destinations among these inclusions.

Even if you're not much of an international chatterbox, you can get your fill of data with Lycamobile's M and XL plans. Both come loaded with generous data caps at their respective price points, offering value on par with the top prepaid plans on the market.

Lycamobile recharge options

If you're new to Lycamobile, you'll first need to purchase a Lycamobile SIM card either by requesting one for free from the Lycamobile website or purchasing one from your nearest participating retail store. With a Lycamobile SIM installed in your phone, recharging is as simple as following one of these steps:

• Online: Visit the Lycamobile recharge page and top up your balance with a credit or debit card
• Phone: Call 373 from the phone you want to recharge and follow the prompts
• In-store: Purchase a Lycamobile top-up voucher from a participating retail store

How to contact Lycamobile