AAPT's limited "unlimited downloads" for night owls

Peter Dinham
Wednesday, 20 May 2009 13:10

Your IT - Home IT

There's good news and bad news - the good news is that AAPT is offering unlimited ADSL2+ downloads, especially for 'families'. The bad news is that you have to be Count Dracula or a shift worker to take advantage of the ‘off peak’ rate between 2am and 8am.

Just how many ‘families’ will be surfing the net and downloading in the early hours of any morning remains to be seen.

However, the unlimited downloads are effectively an added bonus on the fairly generous download allowances AAPT offers during normal peak-time hours on any of the three packaged plans, particularly compared to the opposition – namely Telstra – and its peak period ADSL2+ plans.

A quick comparison of AAPT and Telstra peak period plans shows AAPT offering peak period downloads of 20GB for $49.95 (25GB for $99.95 Telstra), up to 60GB for $99.95 (60GB for $149.95). Incidentally, AAPT’s 30GB a month download price is $69.95 a month.

Clearly it’s a competitive market with carriers like AAPT, Telstra and others vigorously chasing marketshare and AAPT’s thrown in the bonus off-peak unlimited downloads to attract the night owls, seven days a week, while still being competitive on peak hour rates.

AAPT’s head of corporate communications, Tahn Shannon, reckons the LiveNet Unlimited download plans are “designed specifically for internet-hungry families,” and “even better” existing customers can make the switch to one of the new plans without incurring exit penalties from their current contracts.

“Our unlimited off-peak broadband plans are great for families who don't want to worry about exceeding their monthly download limit. An unlimited amount of content rich media such as TV programs, music or purchased movies can be downloaded off-peak, leaving a generous 20-50GB to use during peak-time hours,” enthuses Shannon, adding that “customers receive real value for their money and know that there’s no risk of exceeding their download limits.”

According to Shannon, the introduction of unlimited off-peak downloads follows AAPT’s recent moves to discontinue counting uploads in broadband caps and its earlier launch of bundled home phone, broadband and mobile packages on a single bill.