Vodafone made it three wins in a row, taking out our 2024 ratings for Small Business Mobile Plan Providers, scoring five stars across all categories, except network coverage, where it scored three stars.
Our ratings compare mobile phone plan providers offering business plans, based on customer satisfaction as rated by Australians.
Canstar Blue surveyed 661 Australians with a current business mobile plan service for their feedback on mobile plan providers they’ve been signed up to. Respondents had to have a current mobile phone plan for a business and that business pays the bills.
Survey respondents are asked to rate their satisfaction with their business mobile phone plan provider from zero to 10, with zero meaning extremely dissatisfied and 10 meaning extremely satisfied. Business mobile plan provider satisfaction is rated on the following criteria:
The winning brand is the brand that receives the highest Overall satisfaction rating. All the scores from the Overall satisfaction criteria are then combined and averaged to determine the overall winner.
To qualify in the ratings results, providers must have received a minimum of 30 responses to be included. Therefore, not all mobile phone plan providers offering business services will be compared in this survey. Providers rated in this survey are listed below in order of best overall satisfaction.
Find more information on our Most Satisfied Customers ratings.
The following table shows selected Vodafone Business Plans, listed in order of cost, from the lowest to highest and then by data allowance, largest to smallest.
| Brand | Features | Max Data**/billing period | Advertised Cost^^/billing period | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
min. cost $49 over one month billing period |
50GB | $49 | Go to Site |
|
min. cost $59 over one month billing period |
180GB | $59 | Go to Site |
|
min. cost $69 over one month billing period |
360GB | $69 | Go to Site |
| View all Mobile plans listed on Canstar Blue |
**^^View important information | |||
Vodafone took out top spot, scoring five stars across almost all categories, including overall satisfaction, value for money, plan flexibility, billing and client service, while it scored three stars for network coverage.
Vodafone offers the option of SIM-only plans or plans that can be bundled with a device. All that you need to do is supply your ABN/ACN on sign up, or link it to an existing Vodafone mobile plan account, with additional business plans also able be added.
In second place was Telstra, scoring four stars across most categories, including overall satisfaction, however it scored five stars for network coverage.
Telstra offers a range of SIM-only plans or plans with a phone, with the option to bundle services onto the one plan. Its plans and device selection are essentially the same offerings as what you’ll get if you sign up to a non-business plan. If you bundle a phone with a plan, you’ll choose from a 12, 24 or 36-month device repayment period.
Optus rounded out our ratings scoring four stars in most categories, however it scored three stars for overall satisfaction.
Optus offers a range of options for its business phone plans. While you can pick a similar selection of SIM-only plans and devices to its non-business phone plans, Optus does offer McAfee protection on its Business Choice Plus and Business Teams Plus plans. The Optus ‘team plan’ includes four SIM plans with data to share and flexibility, along with the option to add on additional SIMs for an extra cost per SIM.
Apart from the above-mentioned providers, there are several other telcos also offering phone plans for businesses, although many of these providers might only offer SIM-only plans and no handsets for bundling. These telcos include:
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For sole traders and small businesses with up to 2 employees.
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From $31.00/month min. cost $31.00 |
Go to site |
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For small businesses ready to optimise cashflow and grow.
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$58/month min. cost $58.00 |
Go to site |
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For established businesses needing to fast track pay runs and inventory.
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$141.00/month min. cost $141 |
Go to site |
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For complex businesses managing multiple locations, jobs or currencies.
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$177.00/month min. cost $177 |
Go to site |
Access to a phone and/or phone plan for work can be an essential part of a business. Of those surveyed, 28% provide employees with a mobile phone for work use and 26% upgrade handsets every one to two years.
Despite several providers offering mobile phone services to businesses, 49% of respondents have always been with the same business phone service provider. A big reason for this could be that almost a third of respondents (31%) believe the provider offers good value, while 29% believe their provider offers the best coverage or is the only provider with coverage in the area.
When choosing a provider for your business mobile phone services, there can be a lot to consider. 14% of survey respondents claimed that they don’t find the time to compare other offers and switch providers, so it might seem like a lot to think about on top of operating a business.
However, when you break it down to a few points, comparing business mobile phone plans might be more simple than you think.
The first thing to consider is whether you’ll need phones bundled with a phone plan — such as an iPhone or Samsung phone — or if you simply need the phone plan on its own. If you need handsets with a plan, your provider choices will mostly be limited to the big three telcos (Telstra, Optus and Vodafone).
If you just need the SIM cards with a phone plan, then you have a wider range of options to choose from.
Some providers will offer business-related extras such as the ability to bundle multiple services, data sharing across plans, device security software and more. If these extras are important to you, you can then compare providers to see what is available and which telco will offer the best value for you.
How much mobile data you need for your plans is pretty important. Consider what your team will be using their phone plans for — such as working on the go, accessing emails, video conferencing, making calls, etc — will help determine whether you need a plan with lots of data or not. If phones will be used primarily for making and receiving calls and accessing emails, a smaller amount of data, or a data-sharing plan, might work best. Otherwise you’ll need bigger data plans for working on the go and video conferencing.
Of course, for some workers, a phone plan can be essential when travelling for work. If your team frequently needs to travel, especially to regional and remote areas, ensuring your choice of provider has good mobile network coverage in that area is essential.
While the Telstra, Optus and Vodafone networks all offer coverage to the majority of the country, it’s worth checking the mobile coverage map before signing up to a provider to ensure that the areas your team will be working from are covered.
Emma Bradstock has been an authority on consumer phone, internet, technology and streaming markets in Australia for over five years, with a dedication to providing Aussies with all the information they need to make better purchasing decisions. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Media from Macquarie University and has a decade of professional writing experience in print and digital media.
Meet the Editorial Team
Samantha Howse is Canstar Blue’s Consumer Research Specialist, coordinating the consumer research program behind our customer satisfaction awards across Canstar and Canstar Blue in Australia and New Zealand. Sam has earned a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) from Griffith University and, with seven years in market research and 2 years in marketing, she is experienced in survey design, implementation and analysis, coupled with an understanding of marketing principles and best practice.
Meet the Research TeamCanstar Blue surveyed over 2,000 Australian small business owners and key decision makers across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction, via ISO 26362 accredited research panels managed by Qualtrics. The outcomes reported are the results from customers within the survey group whose business currently pays for a mobile phone plan that is used for business purposes– in this case, 661 people.
Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included. Results are comparative and it should be noted that brands receiving three stars have still achieved a satisfaction measure of at least six out of 10. Not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The ratings table is first sorted by star ratings and then by mean overall satisfaction. A rated brand may receive a ‘N/A’ (Not Applicable) rating if it does not receive the minimum number of responses for that criteria.
Here are past winners of Canstar Blue’s Most Satisfied Customers – Business Phone Plans Providers ratings:
Australia’s Best-Rated Business Mobile Plan Providers - September 24th
Compare Vodafone iPhone plans at Canstar Blue. See the latest prices and deals for the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and all older iPhone models.
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Australia’s Best-Rated Business Mobile Plan Providers - September 24th
Compare all Optus iPhone plans in Australia with Canstar Blue, including the latest deals on the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.
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Australia’s Best-Rated Business Mobile Plan Providers - September 24th
As Australia’s largest telco, Telstra unsurprisingly offers a comprehensive range of iPhone plans, stocking all the newest and hottest Apple devices.
Of course, you’ll also get unlimited talk and text in Australia, plus no excess data …
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Australia’s Best-Rated Business Mobile Plan Providers - June 4th
Mobile phones play a vital role keeping businesses, their staff and customers connected. And all major telco providers offer plans tailored to their business customers’ needs.
In this guide, Canstar Blue explores Telstra’s business mobile …
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Australia’s Best-Rated Business Mobile Plan Providers - February 16th
When done right, porting your mobile number should take no longer than an hour. But an hour can turn into days. Get the full lowdown at Canstar Blue.
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