During the middle part of August, proprietor of Interactive Productions Bassem Abousaid got a call from a producer of A Current Affair about a story they were going to run about Mobile Phone Bills, as it stood his most recent mobile bill topped $400 and it was deemed to be a perfect fit for the story. 

On Thursday 18th August 2005, the story was filmed and aired on the same night on A Current Affair on the 9 Network Nationally and was watched by 1,196,000 million viewers making it the 9th Most watched program on that night, below you will find a summary and video of the story.

Mobile Madness

The huge range of mobile phone plans is confusing at the best of times, but a new company is boasting that it can take all the guesswork out of those plans while saving thousands off your phone bill.

Alastair Stott runs Schmick Solutions, a company that compares more than 60 mobile phone plans offered by all of the major telecommunications carriers across the country. For a $50 fee, the company can find the best mobile plan for you.

"We have achieved significant savings for some of our customers… savings of up to $1500 a year are not unusual for people who have been on plans for a period of time," he says.

Mr Stott says the completely independent company assess’ the customer’s actual usage of the phone, coming up with a recommended best plan in a totally unbiased way.

Bassem Abousaid, proprietor of Interactive Productions is in the habit of dialing up debt, Bassem’s problem is that he talks too much, the professional voice over man often exceeds his fixed call limit.

After going through his bills, Schmik suggests Bassem drop his $79 Cap Plan with Optus and switch to the ‘3’ $129 Capped plan which will give him an extra $200-$300 of savings each month, this will cover those peak months when he is on the phone a lot.

However for those who don’t want to pay for a better deal, the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association has five key tips when looking for a mobile plan:

• Avoid being locked into long term contracts.
• Consider a pre-paid option.
• Opt for spend alerts that allow you to check your mobile credit.
• Consider some of the new capped deals.

Always check your bill for errors.

TV Audience figures:
National Audience 1,196,000
Sydney:
6:30-6:45
ACA: 292,000
6:45-7:00
ACA: 296,000

Watch this story from A Current Affair on August 18th 2005.