Amaysim Australian sim card

Product Description

Amaysim is a new mobile service that offers low prices for calls, text messages and data with excellent coverage on the Optus network.

Amaysim is simple to understand

Most Australian mobile services, have confusing rate plans that include flagfalls (a connection charge of up to 40c per call on top of the per minute cost) and misleading capped plans (where the mobile network makes a big deal about giving you something like $100 of value for $20 while glossing over important details like the fact that your calls can cost around 90c per minute with a minimum monthly commitment even if you make very few calls).

Amaysim is different. It is unique among Australian mobile phone services in that its call charges are actually easy to understand, and not only that, they’re the cheapest deal available on the Australian market.

A choice of two simple rate plans

As You Go plan

Amaysim’s standard Pay As You Go plan has a simple 12c per minute charge for standard calls to landlines and mobile phones in Australia, 12c text messages and 5c per MB for data, free access to most social networks plus no flagfall and no minimum monthly spend.

Unlimited plan

Amaysim’s Unlimited plan costs $39.90 per month and gives you:

International calls and text messages are not included for free, however customers on the amaysim Unlimited plan can make international calls for the same low price as customers on the As You Go plan.

International call charges

Amaysim is a good value option if you plan on making lots of international calls. Call costs to amaysim’s most frequently called countries are as follows:

All international SMS text messages cost 25c per message.

Check amaysim’s full price table for the cost of calls to other countries.

Free incoming calls

As with all Australian mobile networks, it is always free to recieve calls (including international calls).

Can I use it in an Apple iPhone?

The amaysim will work in your iPhone as long as your iPhone is unlocked. You will need to contact your mobile operator to have your phone unlocked and bear in mind that unlocking an iPhone is a more complex procedure than most other phones and will involve a reset in iTunes. Depending on your home network, it can take up to one week to unlock an iPhone. Apple iPhones purchased from an Apple store are usually already unlocked and ready to use with any SIM card.

As long as your phone is unlocked, it will work with all services including voice, text messages and data. The amaysim SIM card is designed to be used both as a regular mini SIM card (for the original iPhone, iPhone 3 and iPhone 3Gs) and as a micro SIM (for the Apple iPhone 4).

As the Apple iPhone 4 is an eight-band phone (four GSM bands and four 3G bands), it will also work on the 900MHz 3G band giving you fast data access in remote areas of rural Australia. Earlier 3G iPhones (the iPhone 3G and 3Gs) will give you 3G data access in most large towns and cities but will download data on the slower 2G network in rural areas.

Can I use it in an Apple iPad?

No problem. The amaysim SIM card comes as a micro SIM that fits in the iPad allowing you to access Optus’ comprehensive 3G network. The iPad 2 and the new iPad also give you access to the 900MHz 3G band giving you fast data access in remote rural areas of Australia.

It is recomended that you pay $9.90 for the 1GB data pack, which gives you 30 days to use 1GB of data (or sign up for one of the larger data packs if you plan on spending longer than a few months in Australia). Without one of these data packs, data is charged at the standard rate of 5c per MB.

Tethering

Unlike mobile networks elsewhere (such as in the USA), it is no problem if you want to use your phone (or iPad) as a mobile hotspot.

What’s the coverage like?

Amaysim has excellent coverage using the Optus network, which covers 97% of Australia’s population. Over the last few years Optus has been expanding its network coverage by an average of two new base stations a day. The Optus network gives you regular GSM coverage on the 900Mhz GSM band throughout most parts of Australia, with 2100Mhz 3G coverage in most large towns and cities. If you have a phone that also includes the 900Mhz 3G band (as opposed to the regular 900Mhz GSM band), such as the iPhone 4, you get even better coverage including 3G coverage on rural highways and even in remote outback communities.

How do I add credit?

You can either buy additional credit online through the amaysim website, by calling amaysim on 567 from your mobile in Australia or 1300 808 300 from any other phone.

Alternatively you can buy credit vouchers from over 14,000 locations throughout Australia including 7-Eleven convenience stores, Caltex petrol stations and Woolworths supermarkets. Vouchers come in $10, $20, $30 and $50 denominations.

Five reasons why you should buy an Australian SIM card before you leave home

FAQ

Will the SIM card work in my mobile phone?

The amaysim Australian mobile phone sim card will work in any unlocked GSM mobile phone that operates at the 900Mhz and 1800Mhz bands. This includes virtually all dual-band mobile phones from Europe and the UK. This is a univeral sim card that will work as both a micro sim for the Apple iPhone 4/4S and Nokia N9 and also as a regular mini sim for all other phones.

How do I know if my phone is locked?

Before you travel put the amaysim (or any other sim that’s not from your regular mobile network) into your phone and turn it on. If your phone shows a network name it is unlocked, if it says something like “Network locked”, “SIM locked” or “SOS only” then your phone is locked into your home network.

How can I unlock my phone?

If you’re still in the UK it is relatively easy to unlock your phone. If you are on a contract you can simply call up your regular mobile network’s customer service and ask them to unlock your phone. This will usually involve them giving you a code, which you enter into your phone to unlock it and make it compatible with SIM cards from all networks. Many networks will do this free of charge if you are a good customer, but some networks may charge you for this service. Alternatively you can go to a small independent mobile phone shop and pay them around £10 to get your phone unlocked (larger mobile phone shops may not offer this service but most small independent shops will).

It is more difficult if you are already in Australia, as many Australian mobile phone shops don’t know how to unlock phones, especially phones on a foreign network. However there are several websites where you can generate codes to unlock your phone. These sites include Trycktill and Unlock it Free. If you are in Australia you can also try making an international call to your home mobile company to get an unlocking code, but occasionally you need to be calling from within that network’s coverage area (depending on your mobile network at home).

You can read more about unlocking your mobile phone here.

How much will it cost people to call me?

The cost of calling depends on your phone company’s rate to Australian mobiles. For calls from the UK, BT charge 29.36p to 51.38p per minute plus an 8p call connection charge (the charges vary according to which calling plan you have with BT). Other phone companies may be cheaper and you can reduce the cost by using a service like Rebtel (USD 16c per minute plus the cost of a local call) or by using Skype (13.3p per minute) or Vonage (8p per minute).

How long will it take for my SIM card to be delivered?

This amaysim Australian SIM card is shipped from Australia. It usually takes between one and two weeks for mail from Australia to be delivered in the UK and you should allow up to two weeks to receive your SIM card.

If you are travelling in under two weeks, we can ship your SIM directly to your hotel in Australia. Please email us with your Australian mailing address when you place your order (however, do not amend your shipping address with Paypal otherwise Paypal may cancel your order) and we will ship directly to your hotel. Deliveries to Melbourne are often delivered the next day; shipments to most areas in New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria including Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney are delivered in around three business days; however shipments to more remote locations can take longer than a week.