Optus network coverage: How does it compare?

If you want the best coverage in Australia, you want a mobile plan on the Telstra network. For cheap mobile plans, look for mobile providers on the Vodafone network. But for something in between, a mobile plan on the Optus network is well worth considering. The Optus network isn’t just home to Optus mobile plans; you can also find plans from Optus mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), including Amaysim, Circles.Life, Moose Mobile and others.

According to Optus, the Optus mobile network covers 98.5% of the Australian population. In practical terms, the Optus network is available to more than 25 million Australians (based on ABS population data from September 2022). Admittedly, that leaves around 391,000 Aussies who are unable to use the Optus network.

The population reach of the Optus network is in terms of 4G and 3G coverage. At the time of writing, the information regarding the size of the Optus 5G network wasn’t readily accessible. In the past, Optus has mentioned it has more than 1,000 live 5G sites, which covered 1.4 million homes. That’s a little trickier to interpret. Suffice it to say the Optus 5G network appears to be smaller than the Vodafone 5G network, with both mobile networks lagging in comparison to the 80% of the Australian population with access to the Telstra 5G network.

The big difference for the Optus vs Telstra comparison, though, is only Telstra and Boost Mobile have access to the main Telstra network, while all other Telstra MVNOs use the Telstra wholesale network. Admittedly, the Telstra wholesale network is still slightly more expansive than the Optus network (98.8% vs 98.5%), but all Optus MVNOs do have access to the full Optus network.

The map below offers an idea of the availability of the Optus network around Australia. Use the orange ‘Click to Activate Interactive Map’ button to get started and ensure the dropdown menu is set to Optus. You can also change the network to Telstra or Vodafone. From here, check or uncheck the 5G, 4G and 3G boxes for a visual representation of the Optus network. Zoom the map in or out to find the areas you work, live or frequent to see which parts of the Optus network are available in those places.

We track around a dozen mobile providers in our comparison engine that use the Optus network. Here’s a look at a daily updating list of the most popular plans on the Optus network today, including Prepaid and SIM Only plans.

The Optus mobile network is home to other popular mobile providers, including Amaysim, Circles.Life and Moose Mobile. Below is a full list of the mobile providers that we track in our database that use the Optus mobile network (listed in order of popularity at the time of writing):

• Optus
• Amaysim
• Circles.Life
• Moose Mobile
• Catch Connect
• Coles Mobile
• Dodo Mobile
• Southern Phone
• Spintel
• Aussie Broadband
• Gomo
• iPrimus