Virgin's new pre-paid broadband makes Optus' look lame

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 16 September 2008 06:25

Opinion and Analysis

Well, you can bring your own broadband modem, if it is compatible, and just get an AUD $10 SIM starter park, which comes with 500MB (or 0.5GB as Virgin say) and 30 days to use it.

But if you don’t have a modem, you’ll need to buy one, and you’ll pay a reasonable AUD $179 for a modem, which also includes a $10 SIM and 500MB of broadband, also with 30 days to use it.

The cost of vouchers, the amount of data they come with and their expiry periods are as follows:

Voucher    Size        Expiry
$15        1GB        30 days
$30        2GB        30 days
$50        5GB        60 days
$100        8GB        90 days

Peter Bithos continued, “And if that wasn’t enough, the launch of our new super stylish super slim dongle means that it’s now even easier to be mobile. The size of an average USB stick, this sexy wireless modem simply slots into your computer and allows you to be up and running within minutes.”

Given that Virgin is owned by Optus, it should come as no surprise that the Virgin service only works in Optus 3G/HSPA areas.

Virgin advises that “data includes uploads & downloads & charged per byte”. In addition, no matter how many vouchers you buy, 10GB of data is the monthly limit – and “excess data” that you have purchased over and above the 10GB limit will roll over to the next month.

If you’re bringing your own modem, Virgin says you must check coverage first, which you can do here at its website.

So... Virgin Broadband’s pre-paid plan definitely looks the biz, and makes Optus’ plan look far too fiddly and annoying.

Vodafone and Three: you two are up next to see if you can beat, or at least match, this plan!