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Fuzzy Logic It’s official: Optus goes mad, hikes wireless broadband pre-paid prices
Fuzzy Logic It’s official: Optus goes mad, hikes wireless broadband pre-paid prices | It’s official: Optus goes mad, hikes wireless broadband pre-paid prices |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Tuesday, 07 October 2008 | |
  
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Although Telstra’s network is costlier, the fact it has at least double the speeds and far greater range is looking all the more attractive to consumers, sick of 3 Mobile’s roaming fees and the curse of decidedly sub-3G speeds when out of 3G areas for 3, Optus and Vodafone. Optus’ new pricing page shows what pre-paid wireless broadband customers will be slugged with November 24. $30 gets you 1GB (or 1.15GB when recharging online), but $30 currently gets you 2GB of data, so this is a very heavy blow especially to pre-paid users who don’t have the money to get a dedicated data plan. It also makes something like Vodafone’s $39 per month for 5GB, or iPrimus’ $39 per month for 6GB (with 64kbps capped speeds and no excess usage fees) that much more attractive, with the caveat that the iPrimus offer is on the overstretched Optus network. The $30 “voucher” for 1GB/1.5GB only lasts for 30 days too. $40 used to give you 4GB of data, but the new November 24 plans mean only a 2GB allowance. A $50 plan from November 24 gives 3GB, while the $70 and $100 plans give 4GB and 6GB respectively, when those two plans currently deliver 6GB and 9GB. At least these last two plans give 60 days of validity, but at these prices, frequent users simply won’t bother with a pre-paid plan, going instead to iPrimus or Virgin (both on the Optus network), to 3 Mobile’s $49 for 7GB plan, or they’ll simply bite the bullet and get 10GB on Australia’s fastest and best network, Telstra, for $129. iPrimus also offers 12GB on 24 month contract with a 64kbps capped speed after the 12GB is used up each month (until the end of the month, after which the 12GB limit restarts), while Virgin offers 1GB of data at $15 and 5GB for $50 on a pre-paid basis. Whirlpool.net.au users are incredulous, and rightly so. After all, Optus has clearly gone mad. It’s official! |
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