Belong Mobile: Plans and prices

Belong is an Aussie telco that’s owned by Telstra. While Big T prides itself on fully featured mobile plans that have the pricing to back their perks, Belong mobile plans are more willing to compete on price. With a Belong mobile plan, you still get the Telstra (wholesale) network, but you can also enjoy more competitive pricing. Here’s everything you need to know about Belong mobile plans in Australia.

• Belong plans operate on the Telstra wholesale network, which isn’t as comprehensive in coverage as the main Telstra network but still connects 98.8% of the Australian population.
• In terms of mobile options, Belong exclusively sells SIM Only plans, so don’t look to Belong if you want a Prepaid mobile plan.
• Belong mobile plans can reach speeds of up to 100Mbps or 250Mbps, depending on the plan price.
• All Belong SIM Only plans come with limitless data, which is capped at 1Mbps download speeds for the duration of a billing cycle if you exceed the max-speed data allocation.

Unlike telcos like Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, which offer a choice of SIM Only or Prepaid plans, Belong only sells SIM Only mobile plans. Like most other telcos, unlimited standard national calls and text are included with every Belong SIM Only plan.

Belong SIM Only mobile plans start at around $30 a month and go up to under $60 a month. SIM Only plans are paid at the end of a billing cycle (unlike Telstra Upfront SIM Only plans), and the more you pay, the more data you get. Dollar-to-data value doesn’t start out particularly great for Belong plans but it does get noticeably better the more you pay.

Every Belong SIM Only mobile plan includes access to the Telstra wholesale network, including 5G, 4G and 3G. While Telstra 5G speeds have the potential to reach hundreds of megabytes per second, most Belong SIM Only plans are capped at 100Mbps for 4G and 5G. The priciest Belong SIM Only plan offers capped download speeds up to 250Mbps. In practical terms, Opensignal data has collective Telstra network speeds at around 60Mbps and 5G download speeds at just over 81Mbps. Expect around 9Mbps for upload speeds across the Telstra network.

As is the telco trend, the more you pay, the more data you get with a Belong SIM Only plan. The monthly median data allowance for Australian mobile plans is 35GB. While the cheapest Belong SIM Only plan is under that median amount, every other Belong plan is comfortably above it. Belong’s two most expensive SIM Only plans come with 100GB or more monthly data.

Belong charges a flat monthly fee to add unlimited international calls and text to selected countries. The add-on is activated via your Belong account and takes effect immediately. But if you cancel, the cancellation won’t kick in until the next billing cycle.

These 30 dialling destinations are included with the Belong international calls and text add-on: Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America and Vietnam.

If there’s a deal for Belong SIM Only mobile plans today, it’ll be listed below.

Like most telcos, Belong doesn’t charge any upfront fees to sign up for any of its mobile plans. One of the better perks for Belong customers relates to how excess data is handled. Belong customers have a couple of options. First, roll over any unused data at the end of your current billing cycle. Alternatively, gift leftover data in 1GB increments to other Belong mobile customers.

While other SIM Only telcos like Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Woolworths Mobile and Kogan Mobile offer the choice of physical SIM card or eSIM, Belong customers only have access to a physical option. Belong is, however, a 100% carbon-neutral company.

The other main Belong perk is international roaming. As is the telco trend, Belong offers international roaming via paid add-on. The Belong roaming travel pack is available for 15 days after activation, works in 30 destinations and comes with a decent amount of data. Belong international roaming also includes unlimited standard texts and 150 minutes of calls (making and receiving).

There is some crossover between eligible destinations for Belong international calls (listed above) and international roaming, but here’s the full list of 42 Belong international roaming places: Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India (excluding Bihar, Uttar Pradesh East and West Bengal), Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America, Vietnam and Vanuatu.

Belong sells a selection of refurbished Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy mobile phones. All refurbished handsets must be bought outright, with prices ranging from around $500 to around $1,200 for a refurbished mobile phone. If you buy a refurbished mobile phone, you also get a Belong SIM card with $80 of credit.

While the Telstra wholesale network isn’t quite as expansive as the main Telstra network, it still accounts for 98.8% of the Australian population. The Telstra wholesale network supports 5G, 4G and 3G devices. Use the interactive map below to check Telstra coverage in areas of interest. Optionally, tick or untick the corresponding 5G, 4G and 3G network boxes for relevant expectations. Note that the Telstra 3G network will no longer function from 30 June 2024.

Thankfully, switching between telcos is a very straightforward process, which includes shifting to Belong. Follow these steps to shift to a Belong SIM Only plan: