Stuart Corner
Sunday, 09 December 2007 16:50
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
Australia's mobile operators have been progressively reducing prices for wireless broadband for months, with Vodafone or 3 generally taking the lead. But 3's response to Vodafone's latest price cut is less than exciting, for now at least.
Vodafone announced on 29 November a new plan offering 5Gbytes of data for $39 per month on its HSDPA network, where available, and via GPRS elsewhere in its network.
Price-wise this made competitors' plans look very ordinary indeed: 5Gbytes on 3 would set you back $99 per month, and Optus and Telstra are even more expensive. On 6 December 3 responded to the latest Vodafone price cut with a half price offer, which brought the cost of a 5Gbyte plan down to $49.50 per month. But this deal, which cuts the price of all 3's wireless data plans by half, is available only until 15 January...so far.
Optus announced new prices for its wireless broadband on the same day as Vodafone with Warren Hardy, managing director, Optus Consumer saying: "Optus Wireless Broadband pricing is groundbreaking, with monthly fees comparable to what the competition is charging for fixed broadband. A quick comparison will reveal just how aggressive our new mobile broadband offers are."
On the contrary, a quick comparison will reveal just how much better value Vodafone is: For $39.99 per month on Optus you will get just 2Gbytes, and that is bundled with other Optus services. Unbundled the price is $49.99.
This is still way cheaper than Telstra, because it would cost you $184.95 to get just 3Gbytes per month on Next G. Telstra also has a half price offer on at the moment, but it is not that attractive: you must sign up for 36 months and the half price applies only for the first six.
However, if you really need access to the Internet at decent speeds (the entire Next G network with claimed coverage of 98 percent of the population is HSDPA enabled and operates at up to 7.2Mbps) then there is no competition. And for many businesses the productivity gains that this kind of access brings mean that the price would not be an issue. Nevertheless with prices like these, Telstra must be missing out on lots of potential customers who don't need access from outside the main metro areas. Perhaps it should hit back at the competition with a lower price option that offers access only in metro areas.
