We’ve all heard the horror stories about shock phone bills, with excess data charges often the culprit. While many of us stream music and video from our mobile phones, it can be easy to use up your data allowance, sometimes without realising.
So, you might be wondering, what happens if you go over your data limit? In this guide we take a look at excess data charges, what they are, how much they cost, which telcos have them and which telcos have no excess data charges.
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What happens if you go over your data limit?
Most phone plans come with some sort of data inclusion, but what happens when you go over your data limit largely depends on the type of plan you have and the provider you’re with.
If you have a prepaid phone plan, when you use up your data allowance, you typically won’t be able to use your data inclusions again until your plan resets after the expiry period, or if you buy a data add-on.
As for postpaid plans, you may have excess data charges if you use up your data allowance, which will appear as additional charges on your monthly phone bill.
However, some providers offer plans with no excess data charges, which typically means you can keep using data but at a slower speed, usually 1.5Mbps. The slower speeds tend to be enough for basic internet usage, including standard definition video streaming.
Which telcos have excess data charges
While many telcos have now scrapped excess data charges on phone plans, some providers still include excess data charges, which are typically applied to your plan automatically when you use up your data inclusions.
Excess data charges apply to postpaid plans – both SIM only and bundled phone plans (including the handset) – and the most common rate charged by providers is $10 per gigabyte. However, some providers might charge more or charge in blocks of MB rather than GB.
You’ll also need to look out for any cap that might be on how much you can add on for your excess data as the telco might restrict your data access until the next billing period. If you find you’re going over your data allowance regularly, you might be better off signing up for a plan with more data, as it could save you a bit of money.
Some postpaid providers with excess data charges include:
| Provider | Additional data blocks | Excess data cost |
|---|---|---|
| AGL | 1GB (up to 3GB in a billing period) | $10 |
| Moose Mobile | 1GB (only charged for what you use in KB) | $9 |
| Southern Phone | 1GB (up to 3GB in a billing period) | $10 |
| Swoop | 1GB (only charged for what you use in KB) | $9 |
| TeleChoice | 1GB (maximum of 10 per billing cycle) | $10 |
← Mobile/tablet users, scroll sideways to view full table →
Source: Respective provider websites May 2024. Costs based on 1,000 MB per GB. Note that some providers might define 1 GB as 1,024 MB.
Other telcos may pause your data usage automatically and require you to add on a data pack to your plan if you need more data. This will appear as an additional charge on your phone bill and data add ons will vary between providers. Telcos with optional data add-ons include:
- Aussie Broadband
- Circles.Life
- Everyday Mobile
- Flip
- More
- Tangerine
A survey conducted by Canstar Blue in 2023 found that 16% of postpaid plan customers often exceed their data limit. While $10 per gigabyte doesn’t sound like much, having it repeatedly added onto your bill could end up costing more than if you switched to a plan with a bigger data allowance.
Which telcos have no excess data charges
Many telcos have stopped adding excess data charges to postpaid plans. This means that when you use up your data inclusion, you’ll be able to continue using your data, but at a capped speed, often around 1Mbps – 2Mbps.
These slowed speeds may be fast enough for standard internet usage, like web browsing, and may even be fast enough for standard definition video streaming, but you may experience difficulties like buffering.
Some telcos offering no excess data charges on postpaid plans include:
| Provider | Speed cap |
|---|---|
| Belong | 1Mbps |
| Dodo Mobile | 256Kbps |
| Optus | 1.5Mbps |
| Telstra | 1.5Mbps |
| Vodafone | 2Mbps |
← Mobile/tablet users, scroll sideways to view full table →
Source: Respective provider websites May 2024.
How can I avoid excess data charges?
If you’re looking to avoid excess data charges, especially if you go over your data allowance, there are a few things you can do.
Switch phone plans or providers
The simplest way to avoid excess data charges is to switch to a different phone plan or provider that will better suit your needs.
If you find yourself regularly going over your data inclusions, you may need a phone plan with a bigger data allowance. However, this will usually mean paying for a more expensive phone plan, which might not suit your budget.
In that case, you may need to switch telcos. You’ll typically find that MVNOs operating on the Telstra, Optus or Vodafone network may have plans with more data and at a cheaper price than the big three telcos. Keep in mind that MVNOs might not always have the same mobile network coverage as the big three — check the network coverage map on your chosen telco’s website to see if you’ll get coverage where you live, work and any other places your frequently visit.
Switching to a prepaid plan or a plan with no excess data charges, could be another option. As prepaid plans will typically pause your data usage until your next expiry period, it can be a good way of controlling your usage. Otherwise, a postpaid plan with no excess data charges might be your best option.
Looking for a phone plan with more data? The below tables compare a range of prepaid and postpaid phone plans. You can use our free phone plan comparison tool to compare a wider range of plans and providers.
The following table shows a selection of SIM-only postpaid plans with a minimum of 40GB data on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of their standard monthly cost, from the lowest to highest and then by data allowance, largest to smallest. Use our tool for simple mobile phone plan comparison to easily compare plans from a range of providers. This is a selection of products with links to a referral partner.
The following table shows a selection of SIM-only prepaid plans with a minimum of 40GB data on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of their standard monthly cost, from the lowest to highest and then by data allowance, largest to smallest. Use our tool for simple mobile phone plan comparison to easily compare plans from a range of providers. This is a selection of products with links to a referral partner.
Limit app data use and auto-play videos
One of the biggest data drainers can be the default options on Facebook and Instagram to auto-play videos. Simply scrolling through can chew up your data over the course of a month but some apps may have the option to disable this. Of course streaming of any video, including Netflix and Stan, will also chew through your data quickly. While we can’t tell you to stop your latest Netflix binge, you can try the following:
- Turn off auto app updates and disable background use
- Disable email ‘push’ notifications, which auto-load pictures, videos and attachments
- Turn off location services in apps that don’t actually need it
- Download shows and movies to your device instead of streaming (if the streaming app has this function)
Apps can be the biggest data suckers on your smartphone, but this can be easily rectified in your phone’s settings and typically in the individual apps too.
Set up data notifications and track your data usage
Chances are you already get SMS notifications about your data usage, but do you actually pay attention to them? Most providers send notifications at 50%, 85% and 100% of your data usage, but these may be delayed or not incremental enough. Many Android-based smartphones allow data monitoring and the ability to create data caps that can be delivered in real time, rather than waiting for the plan provider to send a text.
Many telcos also offer apps and account dashboards the show your data usage in real time. It can help to make a habit of checking this regularly to stay on top of how much data you’re using.
FAQs about excess data charges
Excess data is essentially data that is consumed by a user, but has not been paid for in their phone plan. This means if you pay for 10GB of data per month, but use 12GB before the month is over, that 2GB over 10GB is excess data. Extra data, however, is additional data added to your plan. This could either be in the form of bonus data — which is usually free and part of a special offer from a telco — or it could be a data pack add on, which will typically cost extra.
Being billed for excess data can be stressful. Though there are some very easy fixes to help reign in that amount of data. Looking at your apps’ data usage is a major one, while those most serious about cutting back can limit themselves by switching to another plan that better suits your needs. Excess data charges can easily blow out your monthly budget, so take the time to figure out how much data you really need and pick a plan accordingly.
When you’re comparing excess data charges, it’s important to understand the difference between the two units data is measured in – megabytes (MB) and gigabytes (GB). You’ll usually see MBs referenced as the amount of data in low-cost mobile plans, with 500MB an allowance in plans costing under $20 per month. Once your plan heads over $25 or so, you’ll be dealing in GBs. Mobile carriers generally define a gigabyte as 1,024 megabytes.
It’s crucial you know this because some service providers charge for excess data by the megabyte rather than by the gigabyte, and as you can see from the table above, the carriers with the highest potential fees for just 1GB of extra data charge by the megabyte. So when you’re reading the details of your plan, make sure you know exactly what you’re paying for, because at 5 cents per MB, the costs will quickly add up. To put that into context, a standard five-minute YouTube video will use up the best part of 30MBs of data, costing you about $1.50 in excess charges just to watch a short video.
Paying by the megabyte does have its benefits if you only go a few MBs over your standard data cap, as you won’t be automatically slugged a $10 fee. However, you do run the risk of serious bill shock if you get carried away with your data usage after reaching your limit.
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