It looks like 5G plans will be coming to more telcos in the near future, which is good news for anyone who likes to shops outside the big three.
On Monday Optus announced it is now offering 5G service to its wholesale partners, or Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs).
What is an MVNO?
If you’re not sure what MVNO, we got you. In Australia there are only three phone networks — Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. But you may have noticed a whole lot of smaller companies also offering phone and internet services. These are MVNOs.
What these companies do is buy services from one of the major three telcos at a wholesale price and then resell it to customers. This means that if you ever sign up for a plan from an MVNO it is always being powered by either Telstra, Optus or Vodafone.
With that in mind, it’s always worth checking which telco the smaller company is relying on for service so you can choose one that suits your coverage needs.
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Optus 5G
So what this news means is that MVNOs on the Optus network will now be able to offer 5G plans to customers. It’s the first telco in Australia to do this with its wholesale partners.
At the present time SpinTel is the only company that has taken up the offer, but Gizmodo understands that more should be following suit soon.
According to Optus is currently has over 900 5G sites switched on across Australia, excluding Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
Optus and SingTel 5G plans
If you’re looking to compare Optus and SpinTel plans, we’ve saved you the trouble.
The cheapest 5G plan of the bunch in SpinTel’s $30/month offering that comes with 10GB data.
But if you’re looking for more data than that our picks are the 50GB 5G plan for $40/month and the 80GB plan for $50/month.
Here’s a list of all the best plans:
I’m not sure if I have 5G coverage
If you’re not sure if you have 5G in your area, we have a few tools that will help you work that out.
The first is an interactive coverage map that will tell you whether Optus or Telstra 5G is available near you yet. You may notice that Vodafone 5G coverage isn’t included. This is because it is still predominantly in the testing phase in select areas such as Parramatta.
And if you want to check an exact address, this tool will tell you if it has 5G coverage. All you need to do is add your address when searching for a phone plan and it will let you know if you’re in luck.