Optus 'yes' Timeless plans: they're timed, have limits and exclusions! (updated)

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 21 July 2008 18:22

Opinion and Analysis

Warren Hardy of Optus continues: “This is a clear disruption to the market, allowing customers the freedom to ditch their landline and be free to talk as long as they want and deliver real savings into their household budget.

“The ‘yes’ Timeless plans are ideal for people who worry about busting through their Cap when they talk and text. Optus is once again unshackling the mobile market, and giving our customers all the time in the world.”

Of course, as we’ve shown, you do NOT get “all the time in the world”. You WILL need to make sure you don’t go overboard with your calling, and you WILL need to make sure you curb calls to 13 and 1800 numbers, lest you find additional charges on your monthly bill to take you over your “yes timeless” cap.

But despite all of that, if your level of phone usage is up around the $113.95 to $120 level every month, or higher, Optus plans are appealing.

Still, before you ‘jump’ into one of these plans, all will depend on the contract you are already on, which you likely can’t just leave without some kind of financial penalty.

On top of that, it would be wise to see what Vodafone, 3 Mobile and Telstra decide to offer in response, something that might take a few weeks.

So... good job, Optus, for introducing much better value plans. It’s a shame they couldn’t come under the $100 level, but I guess that’s inflation for you.

If only you could have been more generous still on the data plans.

I guess that will come in the next version of the "yes timeless" plans sometime in the future, when you'll need to re-respond to whatever 3 Mobile, Vodafone and Telstra do in response to you.

As for banning the use of "timeless" and "unlimited"... well, if there are limits, why not be upfront? Just say it's a 2000 minute per month plan.

That will make some people "feel" as though they must use up all 2000 minutes, making it easier to say "unlimited" in the hope that users don't use that much, so they can feel "unrestricted". But a search through the wordy terms and conditions tells you what you need to know. I doubt the terms will ever be banned, but that means there will never, ever be a true "unlimited, timeless" plan. It's all just marketing speak!

So, if you're tempted by these plans but are already on a contract and can't leave, don't worry. This move clearly portends a new telecommunications war, with Optus the first to make a pre-emprite strike! Depending on your monthly spend, if you're a heavy user, your next plan should be much better value than the one you're on now.

In a world of "rising prices", at least telecommunications seems to be getting cheaper again, while mobile data is finally starting to be taken seriously by more telecommunications companies than simply 3 Mobile with its still excellent X-Series plans and is coming down in price. More of it, I say!