Prepaid telephone (no plans)

Yep, a few providers offer that now. You can buy the Vodaphone "red sim" almost anywhere (BigW, supermarkets, any phone shop etc) Just top it up when it runs out of money, various options are available for toping it up automatically. Mine tops up automatically with $20 when it drops below $5, and I have 365 days to use it.

I will never go back to a monthly plan. Old phones like the Nokia 3310 5110 are practically being given away for nix. Brand new phones go for well under $100. The only thing to watch is some new phones are "locked" to one service provider, so you can't just use any SIM card. Most phone shops will unlock it for a fee. The ones that come bundled with a pre-paid card are usually locked.

Dave :)

So you have linked yours to a credit card?

Does this mean that the "sim" provides the telephone number?

Thanks for all that.

I don't think so, even prepaid plans have unused credit expire after some period (eg 12 months) expect to spend atleast around $20-30 a year, but shop around.

Bye. Jasen

yean, the Subscriber Identity Module is linked to your mobile telephone account and thefore your telephone number.

Bye. Jasen

18c flagfall, 22c/30seconds calls. Can use direct debit for payment, no need for credit card. Never had an unwanted caller on mine. And the sims never expire - used mine last month for the first time in a year, might as well have just turned the phone on. You won't recieve a bill if you don't use the phone in the billing period.

They used to give you $5.50 account credit per month for using direct debit as payment and having bills sent as email. Don't know if that still works, but my account balance is still $-11.82.

Works extremely well as an emergency phone - buy a cheap old Nokia for the purpose, just remember to drain and recharge the battery occasionally (especially if you leave it in your car glovebox).

-mark

Try Optus' ISIM. It works for me on my wife's old phone, and is cheap. Auto refills when it drops below $1 if that's what you want, no monthly fees. Only available via WWW. Charges by the second so no per 30s or per min rip offs. ( I'm a tight A....) You need to give them your credit card details. I think the minimum purchase is $10 and you have 6 months to use it( from memory)

From their site. a.. Call rates of 39c/min, billed per second b.. No flag fall on national calls c.. 15c SMS (per message sent of 160 characters) d.. 19c/voicemail retrieval

Russell

Yes, but only for the sake of convienience. I'm pretty sure you don't have to have a credit card or bank account, you can top it up with cash at any one of those phone ATM like machines. Simply buy the card, pop it in and it should work. So you should be able to remain completely anonymous. Check the details though. To get the 365day thing you have select that option with your first top-up.

The SIM comes with it's own new phone number, if that's what you mean. You can get your existing number transfered or simply use the number provided with the phone. In your case if you want to remain anonymous you simply use the number that comes with the card. I think there is a sticker on the Red SIM packet that lists the phone number, so you can even flick through the packs and find a number you like. Dave :)

Just buy a prepaid and be done with it.