Should you fly the capped mobile broadband skies with iPrimus?

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Thursday, 28 August 2008

Page 1 of 3 ! Yet another massive mobile broadband offering has landed in Australia, this time from iPrimus, promising not only a 6GB and a (consumer-level) unmatched 12GB plan, but also the promise of a speed-limited service after the download limit is reached, banishing those super-expensive excess download charges. What’s the catch? Little more than a week after Telstra launched its first consumer price 10GB mobile broadband plan at AUD $129.95 per month, after previously offering 10GB for business customers at around AUD $380 (and still offers up to 50GB per month for around $1500), iPrimus is the first telco to formally offer a package that beats the 10GB barrier by offering 12GB. Called “Speedster”, iPrimus claims the service is the “first capped price mobile broadband service”, although APCMag points out that Virgin Broadband has already offered a “capped” mobile broadband service for some time. Still, what is new is the 12GB offering, at a Telstra beating price of $79.95 per month, or $69.95 if bundled with an iPrimus “home phone plan”, while also promising to replace excess usage charges with a speed limit which gets reset once the new month ticks over. Given that Telstra has increased its excess usage fees from 15c per megabyte to 25c per megabyte, something that could become quite expensive if you’re not paying attention to Telstra sent emails advising you of approaching and then reaching your limit, having another provider out there again setting the precedent to eliminate excess usage fees is a fantastic thing that other providers should immediately copy. The “catch”, as it were, is that iPrimus is using the Optus 3.5G network to deliver its mobile broadband, which is claimed to offer the slowest 3.5G data speeds in the country. Whether that is true or not, Optus is offering 2GB with its new “unlimited plans”, has the largest number of iPhone 3G users sucking up 3.5G data like there is no tomorrow, and as the 100% owner of Virgin Mobile, has to contend with the Virgin Broadband package, and Virgin Mobile offering 5GB on its iPhone plans. With iPrimus now offering a whopping 12GB plan with no excess fees, outdoing Optus itself (and demanding a competitive response from Optus, as the Telstra 10GB offer itself does), Optus’ 3.5G network is being taxed as never before, while Optus also battles claims that the Virgin Broadband service is flaky. APCMag managed to get an admission out of Optus that it is adding capacity, but this is an obvious and necessary move, otherwise Optus would open itself up to claims it is not delivering what it has promised (to its wholesale, business and consumer customers) and you’d think the Trades and Practices Act of 1974 might have something to say about that. So, what does Ravi Bhatia, the CEO of Primus Australia, have to say about what is otherwise a pretty stunning deal? Please read on to page 2. << First page <   1 2 3 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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