What does an all-digital telco look like in 2019? Well, Circles.Life gives us a good look, launching a new phone service offering in Australia in partnership with Optus, with a special launch offer for early customers.
In fact, those who sign up before September 30 can take advantage of four months of free service ($28/mth for 20GB).
Circles.Life offers no long-term contracts, flexible plans that can be adjusted to meet customers’ needs, and an all-digital customer service platform that promises that customers can speak to a real person within seconds using an in-app chat service.
This service has been running in Singapore and Taiwan where the average time to wait for a customer service agent is about 20 to 27 seconds … those long hours spent on hold to major telcos might be a thing of the past here.
Circles.Life Monthly Plan offers 20GB data + unlimited standard national talk & text for $28/mth. Once customers exceed the allocated base data of 20GB, Circles.Life provides $30 worth of bill shock protection (based on $0.01/MB excess data charge) at no extra cost.
This means that if you go over your data a little bit, you’ve got a 3GB buffer before you start having to pay for it.
For those who want even more data than 20GB, Circles.Life offers the option to add an additional 20GB for $10 as a monthly add-on or boost 3GB for $6 as a one-off purchase. The service has rolled out in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, and The Australian Capital Territory, and will be expanding to other states in the next few months.
Better yet, despite being an online sign-up process, Circles.Life says that many customers may be able to receive their SIM the same day, allowing customers to commence using the service almost straight away (or port in their numbers, too).
Circles.Life makes some refreshing promises in Australia’s somewhat crowded MVNO market, but it will be interesting to see how the service stands the test of time.