How do Optus’s new epic prepaid plans compare?
Are you better off getting extra data or extra days to use it when choosing one of Optus's new Epic prepaid plans?
Optus has announced a reworking of its Optus prepaid mobile plans under the "Epic" banner, with a choice of Epic Data or Epic Value plans. So what makes them Epic?
The new Epic Data plans range in price from $10 to $100 per recharge, with data ranging from 5GB to 60GB, and expiry ranging from 5 days up to 28 days. On all but the $10 and $20 recharges, you get unlimited standard national calls and texts as well as up to 10GB of streaming data for use with Netflix, Stan or ABC iview in standard definition only.
The Epic Value plans range from $30 to $100, and they decrease the data quotas, so you can only choose from 1GB to 16GB. The plans don't include the free video streaming data either, but you do get unlimited calls and texts at every recharge level. The key selling point for the Epic Value prepaid packs has to be the expanded expiry period of 42 days to use your credit up, higher than on any of the Epic Data packs.
So how do the two prepaid tiers compare? Let's have a look:
| Optus Prepaid Recharge Cost | Optus Epic Data | Optus Epic Value |
|---|---|---|
| $10 | 5GB data, 100 minutes talk, 5 day expiry | N/A |
| $20 | 12GB data, 200 minutes talk, 10 day expiry | N/A |
| $30 | 5GB data, unlimited talk, 28 day expiry | 1GB data, unlimited talk, 42 day expiry |
| $40 | 10GB data, unlimited talk, 28 day expiry | 5GB data, unlimited talk, 42 day expiry |
| $50 | 25GB data, unlimited talk, 28 day expiry | 10GB data, unlimited talk, 42 day expiry |
| $60 | 40GB data, unlimited talk, 28 day expiry | 12GB data, unlimited talk, 42 day expiry |
| $70 | 45GB data, unlimited talk, 28 day expiry | 13GB data, unlimited talk, 42 day expiry |
| $80 | 50GB data, unlimited talk, 28 day expiry | 14GB data, unlimited talk, 42 day expiry |
| $100 | 60GB data, unlimited talk, 28 day expiry | 16GB data, unlimited talk, 42 day expiry |
On the surface, the Epic Value plans aren't spectacular unless you're always forgetting to actually recharge. There are plenty of plans from MVNOs that utilise the Optus network that offer unlimited calls at lower recharge rates than Optus is offering here, and at higher recharge tiers, you might be better served by a SIM-only contract plan.
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