Purchasing is nice and simple, like their biggest competitors Telstra and Optus, very much a walk in walk out affair, although photo ID is legally required (overseas passport is sufficient). Activation is done over the phone with an operator.

Although it's not difficult to find a location selling Vodafone prepaid packs, they're less common than the outlets dealing in Telstra and Optus products.

Although the Vodafone network has a smaller coverage footprint than Optus or Telstra GSM networks, it still is quite reasonable covering 94% of the population. Besides, the coverage is not really much of an issue if you are visiting the big cities and surrounding areas (particularly Melbourne and Sydney).

SMS is available at 25c (although certain bonus options have free SMS credits), MMS is available at 75c (MMS messages containing a picture are free until Sep 2004).

3 main bonus options are available to choose from

Option 1: call rates decrease as recharge amount increases rates range from 10-30c per 30 seconds, with 20c connection fee.

Option 2: Free SMS message credits are included based on recharge amount. Voice call rate is 30c/30 seconds with 20c connection fee.

Option 3: Get 365 days to use the credits (instead of 30).

Vodafone Red SIM also includes 'Vodafone-vodafone' minutes which increase as the size of the recharge increases. This allows you to call other Vodafone network mobiles for only 20c, any time of day (up to the number of minutes allowed).

GPRS access for WAP is available.

Voicemail is also available (free deposits, retrieval at voice call rate).

There are no charges for receiving calls on Australian networks, and mobiles have their own area code, i.e. of the form 04xx xxx xxx, which means you can be called on that number anywhere in the country. Mobile-mobile rates are uniform, they do not depend on distance.

You can also check your logs on the Vodafone website, as well as manage diverts and other settings.

Recharging can be done with pre-purchased packs, online via credit card, phone via pre-registered credit card. Automatic recharging is also available at certain thresholds/frequencies to credit card.

You can also make overseas calls at reasonable prices, especially to places like the UK, NZ and USA.

There are also set to be cappedcall packages coming to Red SIM later in 2004. These packages 'cap' the credit usage at a certain point (e.g. make up to $500 of calls but pay no more than $79).

Nothing special.

If you are traveling with others, if everyone gets a Vodafone SIM you can all take advantage of the free minutes between Vodafone mobiles any time of day.

Vodafone is another great choice for prepaid users, with a range of bonus options to suit the usage pattern of the customer.

For more information, my website Ausmobile has a prepaid guide on Australian mobile services