TAG | Telstra seriously ups ante with no excess wireless broadband charges |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Monday, 20 October 2008 | |
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Page 2 of 3 A shaped plan on the Telstra Next G network? Yes, this will be very interesting to a lot of customers. And while the $89.95 plan is more than double the cost of Vodafone’s 5GB plan at $39.95 per month (or Optus’ or Three Mobile’s plans), those other companies will charge excess usage fees and their speeds will only be half that of Telstra’s. Featured Whitepaper
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Of course, this will add extra pressure on Telstra’s network. No network is immune from too many users, but by the same token, Telstra has been busy upgrading its network to 21Mbps-class status, and plans 42Mbps next year, and according to Telstra spokesperson Peter Taylor, these upgrades include a capacity enhancement as well, not just the faster speeds. Now, it’s important to note that only the 5GB and 10GB “BigPond Liberty” plans get the bonus of “no excess charges” – the smaller 1GB plan at $59.95 per month and the $29.95 plan with 200MB will both charge you $0.25c per MB, so if you expect high usage, don’t choose one of these two plans or you’ll be paying through the roof. If you’re on a budget and just can’t justify more than $50 per month on wireless broadband, then the BigPond Liberty plans won’t suit, you’ll need to connect to an Optus/Vodafone/Three plan instead. But if you need Australia-wide access to mobile broadband at the fastest speeds, BigPond might still cost the most but it just got a whole lot better, and no excess charges sweeter. We've created a great selection of plans, all designed to be simple and flexible. Just choose the plan that suits you best. If your needs change, you can always change plans without penalty. As per usual, speeds on the Next G network are between 500Kbps and 3Mbps, and able to burst higher. If you reach your limit on either the 5GB or 10GB plan you’ll be shaped to 64Kbps by the end of your billing cycle. Uploads and downloads are counted towards your monthly limit, you get 1 mailbox as part of the deal, access to Telstra’s “unmetered sites” which includes paid music, TV show and movie downloads, BigPond Sports Weekend and Bigpond News, and “exclusive member offers each month from some of Australia’s top retailers”. All of those Telstra extras are designed to offset the fact its prices are higher, but as it is always said, you do get what you pay for. What’s another improvement Telstra could instantly make to its network if it chose to, and where will competing wireless broadband networks move now? Please read on to page 3. |
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