Outage-Proof Your Phone for as little as $5: Simple Steps to Stay Connected When Networks Fail

Last week, hundreds of Australians were left unknowingly without access to Triple Zero as a result of an IT failure at Optus – the question is, how can you avoid falling victim to the same issue with any telco at some point in the future?

Leaving aside the fact that we should most certainly expect these networks to be both robust and foolproof, but also feature strong redundancies to ensure this never happens – I think we all have to admit that things do happen, technology fails.

We’ve seen it with banking networks failing and leaving ATMs or payment systems not working, and of course, we’ve seen many mobile network failures over the years. Optus isn’t alone, every network has suffered them. Telstra themselves had Triple Zero problems during a network outage, so the focus here shouldn’t be just on Optus – and it would rightly give all of us pause for thought.

Personally, I’m not too much fazed about looking at having backups for my backups, but I totally understand the concern that some people might have with this sort of outage happening.

So how can you outage-proof yourself?

You need to do what Optus and other telco executives all did after the mass Optus Network outage in 2023 – ensure you have another SIM card in your phone, from an alternative mobile network.

When the Optus network failed, one of the biggest issues on that morning late in 2023 was that Optus execs couldn’t call each other or their network teams – their mobile network was down. So today, they will have SIM cards from either Vodafone or Telstra as backup.

That sounds expensive, I hear you wonder. Well, no.

In fact, it could cost as little as $5 a year.

It all relies on having an eSIM from another carrier.

If you’re a Telstra customer, you need an eSIM from a carrier on the Optus or Vodafone Network. My recommendation there are the Amaysim PAYG plan, or Vodafone’s PAYG plan.

For Optus customers, you can consider that Vodafone PAYG plan, or the Aldi mobile plan.

It should be noted that while Vodafone and Amaysim do have eSIM, Aldi do not yet – but they are bringing eSIM to customers in October – so it’s close!

Vodafone customers can get the Amaysim or Aldi plan on their phones.

Amaysim’s PAYG plan is $15 with 365-day expiry. This means you pay once, and if you never use it (that is, you don’t make calls which chip away at that credit), you don’t need to pay that $15 again for another year!

Vodafone’s PAYG plans start at $45 for a 365-day expiry – same situation, pay once, off you go.

And Aldi’s is the most remarkable value, at just $5 for 365-day expiry.

What you should know is, you can give people that other number too – they can call you any time – that doesn’t cost you a cent – so it’s a great all-round backup option!

An eSIM is electronic, so doesn’t require the plastic SIM card in your phone. Likely, your main mobile number is a physical SIM, so make your backup one an eSIM.

Once you install an eSIM, you can choose which network you use as Default for calls and Data – you’d set it up so your main SIM is used for both, because on these cheap plans, you pay per minute per call.

Instead, when necessary – either because you’re out of area or there’s a network issue, you can simply choose which SIM to use manually for any phone call.

Works easily, gives you a solid backup plan, and could be very handy in an emergency.

Personally, I do think it’s a bit of overkill, but I can certainly imagine someone who has medical concerns on an ongoing basis being keen to have a simple redundant backup like this, and for the cost we’re talking – worth it.