Telstra's BigPond simplifies wireless broadband pricing

Stephen Withers
Friday, 22 August 2008 06:32

Business IT - Networking

BigPond has trimmed the number of wireless broadband plans it offers to just four, including a new 10G per month option. Significantly, the carrier no longer offers plans with different maximum speeds or charges differently for the use of wireless modems or mobile cards and dongles.

Telstra offers the widest 3G coverage across Australia, but customers have to pay for that broad availability.

The four plans. offer 400M per month for $A39.95, 1G for $A59.95, 3G for $A89.95 and 10G for $A129.95. New customers with other Telstra services may qualify for a half price offer for the fist 12 months of wireless use.

"The new BigPond Wireless Broadband plans reflect the exceptional value we offer customers who are looking for a reliable wireless broadband service," said Justin Milne, BigPond group managing director.

But even with the discount, this is decidedly expensive when compared with 3 (1G for $A15, 3G for $A29 and 6G for $A49; better deals are offered to the company's mobile phone customers) or Optus (1G for $A29.95, 2G for $A44.95, 5G for $49.05 or 6G for $A59.99; subtract $A10 if bundled with other services).

However, BigPond does not meter traffic associated with its news, music, movies, sport and games services.

BigPond excess data is charged at $A0.25 per megabyte. 3 charges $A0.10, and Optus $A0.15.

Although the nominal speed of the 3G services is 7.2Mbps, Telstra says typical download speeds vary between 550kbps to 3Mbps, with burst rates of up to 6Mbps in CBDs and some other areas.

The new plans take effect on August 24. Existing customers may elect to switch to one of the new plans.