Note from the Editor:
This article was kindly written for the SDC by member @Doctor Alan.


The mobile phone has become an essential tool since the first model became commercially available in 1982. (Car phones were in use in Japan in 1979). These were quite huge – we’d call them ‘bricks’ nowadays, and are the source of some hilarity when we see them in old movies.

We’ve got used to the reliability of the mobile phone, which has become more like a portable computer. So why have I had difficulty making a regular phone call over the last several months?


My early phone woes:
The first bit of trouble I had was when I apparently made a call to ‘Ascension Island’, and my bill at the time, usually $10 for the month, had an extra 55 cents for me to pay. It was apparently an ‘International MMS’. It might be just me, but I didn’t see why I should pay for a charge that I hadn’t incurred, no matter how small.

The company I was with at the time very kindly credited my next bill with the amount, and twice more when I’d apparently made calls to South Vietnam and some other place. I decided to change carriers.


In fact, I changed my carrier about three times: from Vaya, Tangerine Mobile and Circles Life. I’ve forgotten which one it was now that argued with me that it ‘must have been my fault’ and so on. ‘Oh, alright, we’ll credit you the amount, but this is the last time…’

I’d contacted each carrier and asked them to block any overseas calls. It didn’t make any difference; the odd 36 or 55 cents kept cropping up. I’d searched online and found it was, in fact, a well-known scam. I suppose most people wouldn’t bother to report it. After all, it was only a few cents. That’s not my way, though.

Finally, I changed to Dodo and haven’t had any problems. The reason is that I think international MMSs are included, and as long as I was paying only $10, I was happy. (Now Dodo has increased their monthly charge to $18, and that increase seems to be across the board.)


Recent problems:
We’ve all heard about the Optus debacle - people actually losing their lives when they were unable to dial ‘000’. I didn’t think we were affected, even though we were ‘with Optus’ (I believe Dodo, Circles Life and Vaya use the Optus network). I’d never dialled ‘000’ so I didn’t know there was any problem.

What was (and is) happening, though, is that my $1000 Apple phone (refurbished iPhone 13!) – and my wife’s – sometimes simply refuses to dial out. Then we’d get partway through the call, and we’d suddenly lose the connection, and this would typically happen more than once during the call.

We live in a relatively densely populated area about halfway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, so reception should be OK. We initially tried the old ‘IT Crowd’ remedy of ‘unplugging it and plugging it back in again’! (We turned the phones off and on again.) Sometimes, it worked, but most times, it didn’t.


We were also told to ‘Reset Network Settings’ with the same result. We got the message saying ‘Dialling…’ but it wasn’t, and after a minute or so, the phone would simply stop ‘dialling’.

Two trips to Apple in Carindale ensued, where their ‘geniuses’ told us there was nothing wrong with the phones and suggested doing several things, all of which we later tried to no avail.

We even sent for two more SIM cards from Dodo, but there was no difference. We tried non-magnetic phone cases because the Apple ‘genius’ suggested it. Again, there was no difference. We simply couldn’t rely on our costly phones to make a call!


A possible solution - a second SIM card:
I’m very lucky. My background as an electronics engineer has allowed me to embrace all the ‘new technology’ that we’re told is essential for our well-being, so when it came to choosing a particular phone brand or Telco, I did a fair bit of research.

I got the idea that perhaps it was the Telco that was at fault. I’d predominantly chosen companies that used the Optus network because they didn’t charge as much as Telstra, or companies that used the Telstra network. These companies are: ALDI, Belong, Boost Mobile, Exetel, Mate, More Telecom, Superloop and Tangerine Mobile.

I thought I’d change to ALDI because they have a $125 365-day prepaid SIM plan with 150GB data that could be ‘rolled over’ if not completely used. In the course of my research, I’d found that the ‘modern’ idea was to use a virtual SIM card or ‘eSIM’, and my Apple phone (iPhone 13) and my wife’s Apple SE 3rd generation were both compatible.

I thought this was a good idea, since I could switch between the Optus network and the Telstra network if one or the other had a ‘hiccup’ like the ‘000’ problem. Many modern iPhones (since the iPhone XS), all recent Samsung Galaxy models (including S and A series, Fold, and Flip), most Google Pixels, and a wide range of Android phones from brands like Motorola, Nokia, OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Oppo sold in Australia support Dual SIM (via one physical SIM and one eSIM, or dual eSIM in some models).

If you want a complete run-down of eSIMs, check out this website.


The only trouble was that ALDI wouldn’t make eSim plans (including the 365-day plan) available until October. By a stroke of luck, Boost Mobile has a ‘special deal’ that costs (pre-paid) only $13 for 28 days, and includes 50GB of data for the first three recharges. After this time, the deal reverts to $39 for 28 days.

With an eSIM, everything takes place online: number porting, activation and so on, within about 10 minutes! The apparent disadvantage is that it’s a bit more difficult if you want to change phones at any point, but that didn’t concern me.

So now I have a ‘Primary’ number and a ‘Secondary’ number. I have been able to set up my contacts so that I can call them on one or the other, so if one of the SIM cards starts to play up, I can simply switch over to the other one.


Where to from here?
So far, I’ve had no trouble from the Optus-based Dodo SIM card since I installed the Telstra-based eSIM. I’m not sure whether this is Murphy’s Law or that Optus has now ‘fixed’ its ‘000’ problem, and my own difficulties over the last couple of months were tied to this, even though I never dialled ‘000’.

I reckon I'll use the eSIM from Boost/Telstra for a month or two. If I have any dialling problems with Dodo during that time and find that I can use the eSIM successfully to dial out, I’ll go for the ALDI card.

I really think it’s a necessary part of modern life to make sure we understand all the ‘new technology’ so we don’t get stymied by breaks in our essential communication network. The slight extra amount I’m paying for my eSIM card is my (possible) insurance if that ‘000’ problem occurs again.

And by the way, if I’d chosen a ‘pre-paid’ plan in the first place, I wouldn’t have been billed for calls to ‘Ascension Island’! With Dodo, I have to give 30 days’ notice of cancellation on my ‘plan renewal’ date. With prepaid, there is no such inconvenience.

From the Editor:
Mobile phones have gone from chunky “bricks” to pocket-sized computers we can’t live without. However, as Dr Al reminds us in this week’s reflection, convenience doesn’t always mean reliability.

With stories of phantom charges, dropped calls, and the nationwide Optus outage, he explores the frustrations many Aussies still face in staying connected — and how a second SIM card may just be the safety net we didn’t know we needed.

It’s a thought-provoking look at how far technology has come, and how much we still depend on it working flawlessly. Have you had your own share of mobile mishaps? We’d love to hear them in the comments below.


Love Alan’s writing and want to read more? You might also like to read:
My Uncle Ray
Country Living
Our Best Friends
The Gambling Compulsion
Father’s Days
Being Old!
It’s About Time
The Twang’s the Thang!
Being Lucky
Are We All Liars?
The Coo of the Doves, The Hiss of the Guzunder
‘Till Death Us Do Part
Living in Retirement
Alan G.’s Member Spotlight: ‘Almost Famous’
The Ice Cream Job: The Tech Guy – Dr Al
The Lucky Man: The Tech Guy – Dr Al
‘Ten Pound Pom’ Hostel Living: The Tech Guy – Dr Al
Becoming a Better Driver by Accident!
Tech Talk with Dr Al: Accessibility Aids for the Home
Flying Round the World: The Tech Guy – Dr Al
Many Happy Returns of the Day!
Reaching for the Stars!
My great-grandfather’s journal of 1908: The Tech Guy – Dr Al
Pocket Money
University Days
Nasty Words and Silly Gestures
Up-Sticks and Move Interstate!