Exetel mobile plans: price, data and value compared

Exetel is an Australian owned telecommunications provider that offers a range of mobile and home internet plans.

In terms of mobile plans, the provider has six prepaid offerings, each with 30-day expiry, and prices that range from $20 to $60 a month.

Exetel’s plans run on Telstra’s Wholesale Network, with four out of its six plans (excluding the two cheapest options) offering access to 5G.

There are multiple perks that come with Exetel’s mobile plans, the biggest being data banking. If you’re worried about data wastage, Exetel offers data rollover on all its plans (up to 500GB on the three cheapest plans, and up to 1000GB on the three more expensive plans) so any unused gigs can be saved for a later date.

Exetel’s mobile plans also allow for international roaming which is a pretty uncommon perk for a prepaid mobile plan, especially one from an MVNO. This means that if you’re travelling, you can continue to use your phone overseas – the only condition is that you’ll need to have a positive PAYG balance in your Exetel account, so that any additional costs can be deducted.

As for how much you'll be charged when roaming will depend on the zone you are in (details relating to zones can be found on the aforementioned international roaming page). The exact cost of data, calls and SMS usage while overseas will be deducted following your trip.

In addition, four of Exetel’s mobile plans include unlimited standard international calls and SMS to 15 countries (including Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, US and more) which could be a great perk for those with business or family and friends overseas and again, it is pretty uncommon that we see this included with prepaid mobile plans.

Exetel mobile plans comparison

As mentioned, Exetel offers six different prepaid mobile plans, all of which have a 30-day expiry. Here are the details and general pricing for Exetel’s prepaid plans:

• $20 for 10GB
• $28 for 25GB
• $35 for 35GB
• $40 for 60GB
• $50 for 100GB
• $60 for 150GB

What is Exetel's mobile coverage?

Exetel mobile plans run on the Telstra Wholesale 5G mobile network, which it claims is the most expansive in the country, covering 99.7% of Australia’s population. That means unless you are located very remotely, you shouldn’t have any problems with coverage on an Exetel mobile plan. To find out if your area is serviced by the Telstra network, you can check Exetel’s mobile coverage map.

Are Exetel’s mobile plans good value?

Exetel’s mobile plans generally offer above-average value, especially the plans that include larger data allowances (60GB and above) because you end up paying a very competitive rate when you look at the cost per GB. Of the six prepaid mobile plans offered by Exetel, some are definitively better value than others. Here are the two plans that we recommend, and one we suggest you steer clear of.

Recommended plans

• Exetel 5G Choice Plan | $40 | 60GB | 30-day expiry | Telstra Wholesale 5G Network

This Exetel plan costs $40 per 30 days and gives users 60GB of data. This means that each GB costs $0.67, which is a competitive price at this $40 cost. This plan also provides 5G access (speeds are capped at 150Mbps) and allows for up to 1000GB of data rollover.

• Exetel 5G Plus Plan | $50 | 100GB | 30-day expiry | Telstra Wholesale 5G Network

While $50 per 30 days is approaching the more expensive side when it comes to prepaid plans, if you need up to 100GB of data, this plan offers good value when you look at cost per GB ($0.50). As with the $40 plan, this one provides 5G access (speeds capped at 150Mbps) as well as up to 1000GB of data rollover, so if you don’t quite use the included 100GB, it’ll automatically be banked for later.

Plans to avoid

• Exetel 4G Saver Plan | $20 | 10GB | 30 day expiry | Telstra Wholesale 4G Network

This is Exetel’s cheapest plan, costing $20 for 10GB of data. While $20 is a pretty competitive price for a mobile plan, you can find other options for a similar price that include more data. For example, Exetel’s 4G Value Plan only costs an extra $8 and gives you an extra 15GB. A good alternative in our opinion is Spintel’s $22 Mobile Plan which is currently only $14 per month for the first six months and includes 25GB of data.

What is Exetel's best mobile plan?

The word ‘best’ is always a bit subjective because everyone has different needs – particularly when it comes to a mobile plan. So, to choose Exetel’s best plan we’ve compared all of its offerings and selected the one we think suits the majority of people’s needs.

We believe that Exetel’s best plan is its $40 5G Choice Plan. Like all of Exetel’s mobile plans, this one needs to be recharged every 30 days and includes 60GB of data – the equivalent of $0.67, which is quite competitive at this price point. As well as offering good value per GB, this plan includes 5G access on Telstra’s Wholesale Network, unlimited standard international calls and SMSs to 15 countries, and customers can also rollover any unused data up to a maximum of 1000GB.
Total cost and data for first year: $480 for 720GB

Should I sign up with Exetel?

Here’s a breakdown on who we think would benefit from an Exetel mobile plan, and who should probably look elsewhere.

Reasons to sign up

You want to be able to rollover unused data: Not all providers allow customers to keep unused data. If this is something that’s important to you, Exetel’s mobile plans all allow for data banking of between 500 to 1000GB, depending on the specific plan you choose.

You can use the free international calls and SMS: Exetel offers unlimited standard international calls and SMS to 15 countries (including the UK, US, New Zealand, Japan and more) on all plans $35 and over. So if you have business or family and friends overseas and want to be able to message and call them for free, this is a good reason to sign up for an Exetel plan.

You want a prepaid plan that allows international roaming: Exetel offers global roaming on all of its pre-paid mobile plans, provided you have a positive PAYG credit balance and enough credit so that Exetel can charge for what you use. The exact prices for roaming depend on the zone you travel to. You can find more information on Exetel’s international roaming policy on the Exetel website.

Reasons not to sign up

You want a postpaid plan: If you prefer a postpaid plan so you can use more than your inclusions and pay after, you’re probably better off opting for another provider because Exetel only offers prepaid mobile plans.

You want a long expiry plan: Unfortunately, Exetel only offers 30-day expiry plans, so if you prefer long expiry plans where you don’t have to worry about recharging for six months or a whole year, you’re better off going with a provider that offers them, such as Kogan Mobile, Vodafone or Optus.

Exetel mobile plans FAQs