Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 15 April 2008 14:34
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 3
Despite the massive price decreases of mobile broadband by companies
such as Three, Vodafone, Optus – and even, relatively speaking, Telstra
– most Australians still fear using the mobile web because it’s just
too damned expensive.
In a world where mobility of voice services through mobile phones is second nature to us all, the ‘next big thing’ has always been the move to mobile data services.
Although underway for years, mobile data can still be tremendously expensive, depending on the way you access it.
If you try to access the Internet through your mobile phone without a specific data plan – whether on the phone or through your computer, using the phone as a wireless modem – you’ll probably end up being charged at least 1c per kilobyte, or around $10 per megabyte.
10 megabytes equals $100, 100 megabytes equals $1000 and a gigabyte, or around 1000 megabytes, equals $10,000. The price used to be double at 2c per kilobyte, so at least this has halved, although clearly that’s not saying much.
At 1c per kilobyte, these prices are patently ridiculous in an era of 5GB of data for $39 per month, the current price Vodafone charges for a wireless USB modem that connects to any computer, although that price is sadly not yet available as a bolt-on data plan option for mobile phone customers wishing to use their mobile phones as wireless laptop modems.
Three and Optus have also been fighting hard, with Three offering 1GB of data for $15 per month, whether through your phone or a USB modem, while Optus has a range of offers, with the main one coming to mind being 6GB of data for $49 per month, although Vodafone’s pricing is certainly the most competitive.
Even serial overcharger Telstra was forced to drop its 3GB per month for $184.95 to $114.95, whether accessed using a wireless modem or through a mobile phone, at least giving customers that option.
It’s a much higher price than the other three telcos but comes with the benefit of Australia’s largest coverage and fastest speeds, a situation that will continue even once Optus and Vodafone have completed their Australia-wide 3.5G HSDPA networks that will cover 95% of Australia’s population.
Please read onto page 2 for more analysis of Australia’s current mobile wireless Internet market – and details of the new survey which shows the level of satisfaction – or otherwise – with wireless data usage and pricing.
