If you’re a bargain shopper then Catch of the Day will be on your radar, and today the Catch group has launched their own Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) service powered by the Optus network, to bring those savings to your phone.
Called Catch Connect, the service will initially offer prepaid Mobile 30 and 90 day plans and prepaid Data 30 day plans. This means that there’s no lock-in contracts so you can try them out and switch if you don’t find the service to your liking. As a tie-in for the launch, Catch are offering shopping vouchers which can be used on catch.com.au as incentives to users signing up to their 90-day plans.
The plans that Catch Connect is offering range from a 30-day plan including 2GB of data for $15, up to a 90-day plan including 45Gb of data for $89 (and those bonus Catch shopping vouchers). All plans in the Catch Connect range come with Unlimited Talk + Text to standard numbers in Australia, and additional data can be purchased for $10 per 1GB or $15 for 2GB.
There’s also international rates for the plans to 32 countries which let you call for up to 100 minutes for $5 or up to 300 minutes for $10.
Their 30-day pre-paid data only plans include two options, either 10GB of data for $30, or 30GB of data for $40 – with a 30-day expiry on both.
You can see all the plans here, or check them out on their website:
Catch Group CEO Nati Harpaz said,
Our customers prioritise choice and value, so when it came to designing Catch Connect, we wanted to create a unique and differentiated offering that delivers additional value to users. For launch, customers who purchase eligible plans will receive shopping vouchers that can be used to spend at Catch.com.au – we call it CatchBack – customers can’t lose. The varied range of prepaid mobile products offer some of the best deals in the market, all powered by Optus’ superfast and reliable 4G Plus mobile network, which is a major win for consumers.
Competition in the mobile market is always good, and the Optus network is quite decent, though you should check out the Coverage Map before changing service to ensure you’re going to be in range.
The only drawback to connecting with Catch is their reputation when it comes to user privacy. The company suffered a data breach which exposed details of customers names, delivery addresses, email addresses, and encrypted passwords and they said ‘in some cases’ credit card data in late April or May 2011 – what is concerning is that they did not disclose this to customers until June of 2014.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) when investigating the breach said
The Commissioner expressed concern about the size of the breach, the possible compromise of financial information, and the significant delay between COTD becoming aware of the incident and notifying affected individuals.
If you’re a loyal Catch customer and want to try out the new service, you can check it all out on the Catch Connect website.
I think I will stick with Kogan Mobile. So far I have not had any issues with them and coverage has been fine where I have gone plus I have a Telstra sim in my phone too which I can use in emergencies when I lose the Vodaphone link. The only wish I have is that they might increase the data just a tiny bit more for my plan as some months I have gotten very close to running out and had to ration.
Everyone is an MVNO these days!
Weren’t these the jackasses that got brutally hacked and didn’t tell anyone for for years? Yeah I’d trust them with my metadata
That’s in the article Boris