Last updated: March 2024
Canstar Blue’s Prepaid Mobile Plans Outstanding Value Award uses a sophisticated rating methodology, unique to Canstar Blue, which compares providers’ suite of mobile SIM-only prepaid plans offered to consumers.
The Canstar Blue Prepaid Mobile Plans Outstanding Value Award is awarded to the provider that provides the strongest SIM-only prepaid mobile plan offering across a range of consumer data needs from Canstar Blue’s Mobile Value Rank for SIM-only prepaid.
Canstar Blue’s Prepaid Plans Outstanding Value Award considers mobile SIM-only prepaid plans.
| Plan Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Prepaid SIM-only plans | BYO device and pay an upfront fee for each selected period. |
Canstar Blue takes into account a range of variables for prepaid SIM-only plans, such as data, call, and SMS allowances. The following combination of consumer variables from Canstar Blue’s Mobile Value Rank determine the plan requirements for each profile:
| Calls Required | SMS Required | Data Required |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited | Unlimited | 1 GB+
5 GB+ 10 GB+ 20 GB+ 40 GB+ |
The Prepaid Mobile Plans Outstanding Value Award assesses the cumulative performance of a provider’s offering across a range of data inclusions over a six-month period; considering providers’ best performing SIM-only prepaid plan within each data allowance profile over two prepaid periods. The below outlines the weighted average consideration across each data allowance and prepaid period profile.
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For each plan, Canstar Blue considers the value proposition compared to the market, by providing an estimated monthly cost and feature score based on Customer Service and Support, Inclusions, and Billing and Payments. Canstar Blue considers plan features most relevant to consumers in the calculation of Value Rank. However, not every feature is included in the Value Rank, nor every feature that is relevant to you.
The above is a brief overview of the elements considered in Canstar Blue’s Prepaid Plan Outstanding Value Award. For further detail on how individual plans are assessed, please refer to the Mobile Value Rank Methodology document.
Canstar Blue endeavours to include the majority of providers and products in the market and to compare product features relevant to most consumers in our ratings. However, this process is not always possible, and it may be that not every provider and/or product in the market is included in the rating, nor every feature compared that is relevant to you.
Canstar Blue monitors changes on an ongoing basis, and the Value Rank, Price Score and Feature Scores of each plan are fully re-calculated every day.
Canstar Blue ranks Mobile plans based on value-for-money. Whereby, the Value Rank takes into account a plan’s estimated cost and features offered as compared to the market. The plans that are lower in cost and have higher features will be ranked higher than plans which have higher cost and less features.
This methodology and the many others Canstar Blue uses to conduct it’s in-depth consumer research are managed by Canstar Blue’s in-house Research Team. They provide the expertise that powers our Star Ratings and Awards, designed to help Australian consumers make more informed purchasing decisions.
Meet the Research Team