Telstra introducing group data plans for mobile broadband

David M Williams
Sunday, 05 April 2009 17:17

IT Industry - Strategy

At that time it was easy enough for people to argue they didn’t understand just what “downloads” meant. They’d insist black and blue they didn’t download anything. Sure, they visited web sites but they didn’t “download” anything. They also checked their e-mail but were sure not to open any attachments – never mind the fact their mail reader sucked all the mail down, attachments and all.

Today, the situation is only somewhat better. People have more understanding that any online activity constitutes the download of data, but for the most part still operate under the assumption the pricing of wireless data is akin to their home residential ADSL wired data service.

Telstra (and other carriers) have no doubt received their share of bad press from disgruntled users with vast excess usage fees. We’ve seen this recently with new iPhone owners.

However, the measures Telstra have taken to help businesses have, to date, been insufficient.

Presently, Telstra do send an SMS to the individual device as it approaches its quota for the month. This message doesn’t go to any nominated administrator; it only goes to the device. If the user is not observant, or their modem software does not cater for SMS messages they will blissfully continue consuming downloads and incurring costs.

When I have asked for better control in the past I was directed to a Telstra web site where I could register each and every device, and then each week manually go in and check the usage on each service. While being slightly helpful, it was still a crummy mechanism.

What I really wanted to see was shaped NextG data usage, or even plans such that the data supply switched off when the monthly quota was reached. Or, a group data plan so that the company could pay for a monthly bundle of data which was shared across all the modems. After all, that’s just like company fixed Internet usage, or like the pooled usage for most corporate mobile phone voice plans.

Happily, I was told this last item has in fact materialised within Telstra. At this time the details are still being worked out and, I am told, the terms and conditions are particularly complex.

However, it is still good news for business, even if long overdue. At last, companies can begin to have confidence they aren’t over-committing some plans, under-committing others, and without any control whatsoever on usage. At last companies can begin running their modems with a means of controlling their costs.