Lycamobile plans review

When you go with a Telstra network MVNO, on SIM Only or Prepaid, you expect to pay more. But Lycamobile plans show that access to the Telstra wholesale network doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. The telco offers seven different 28-day no-contract Prepaid plans, all of which come with unlimited national talk and text.

The Unlimited 12 is the cheapest Prepaid plan, which is normally priced at $12 per Lycamobile recharge for 2GB of data. Next up is the Unlimited 20 plan, which offers 10GB (with a bonus 10GB at the time of writing) for $20.

If you need some international minutes, the Unlimited Plan XS, S, M, L and XL (ranging from $25 to $50 per month have you covered, with the cheapest plan offering unlimited international calls to 12 countries and the most expensive plan to 53 countries. That’s pretty great value in the cheap Prepaid space.

To see how Lycamobile stacks up against the competition, here's a quick look at the current most popular prepaid plans with at least 2GB of monthly data.

Lycamobile also offers a weekly plan for $10, which comes with 10GB of data as well as unlimited calls to 29 countries. If you commit to renewing three, six or 12 times, you can save between $7 and up to $96 for plans with 6GB, 30GB and 50GB of data via the Lycamobile website.

Lycamobile is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) running on the Telstra Wholesale network, which reaches 98.8% of the Australian population. That's slightly less than the full Telstra network (which only Boost Mobile also has access to) at 99.4%, but still a larger footprint than Optus (98.5%) and Vodafone (96%).

Essentially, that means you're getting pretty great coverage for a much cheaper price. Most metro and regional hubs are well-serviced by the Telstra Wholesale network, but those in rural areas may benefit from going directly with Telstra. The map below illustrates the difference that small percentage between the Telstra network and the Telstra Wholesale network makes.

Not sold on Lycamobile but still want Telstra coverage? Here's a breakdown of the current most popular plans from each provider on the Telstra network.

Outside of having access to the far-reaching Telstra wholesale network, the main noteworthy perk for Lycamobile customers is the international calls. You won’t get any international inclusions with the two cheapest Lycamobile Prepaid plans, but spending $25 and above nets you at least some unlimited international calls: 12 selected countries for the Unlimited Plan XS, 29 for the Unlimited Plan S and Unlimited Plan M, as well as 53 for the Unlimited Plan L and Unlimited Plan XL.

Across those dialling destinations, there’s a mix of countries that allow calls to both mobile and landline numbers, and a handful of options that are landline only. The Unlimited Plan S and Unlimited Plan M also include 30 minutes of calls to nine additional selected countries OR 10 minutes of calls to 10 other additional international dialling locations. Similarly, the Unlimited Plan L and Unlimited Plan XL options offer 300 minutes of calls to 14 selected countries OR 100 minutes of calls to a further 13 selected nations.

Outside of the international perks, Lycamobile also offers $5 of credit for successful referrals.

Lycamobile has a decent range of support options, though live chat is no longer one of them. Still, you can contact them Monday to Saturday between 9.00am and 6.00pm by emailing cs@lycamobile.com.au or submitting a form via their website. Those support hours also apply to phone support, with a multilingual team that can be reached on 1300 854 607 for those who aren’t Lycamobile customers and by dialling 122 for those who are. The Lycamobile website also has several self-help topics separated under FAQ headings.

For those who prefer interacting via social media, Lycamobile’s Facebook and Twitter pages appear to be actively updated and can be accessed for customer service inquiries (though neither channel is the speediest).

In terms of reported customer satisfaction, the Lycamobile user score on Product Reviews was at 2.3 out of five after more than 1,100 reviews at the time of writing. This also breaks down to 3.1 for value for money, 3.2 for customer service, 3.3 for local reception and 2.8 for transparency. The Google score was lower at 1.6 out of five after more than 90 reviews. There aren’t any other customer review scores on Facebook or Trustpilot, but that 2.3 score puts Lycamobile outside the top 10 of the telcos we track in our engine.