iPhone 4: Optus responds to crappy network allegations!

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 28 July 2010 13:51

Your IT - Mobility

To Optus or not to Optus with your iPhone 4? With concerns by some that Optus had become Droptus and Dialuptus, an Optus spokesperson has stridently defended its network, promising to send me a micro SIM to test it out for myself, which I'll be very keen to do against Telstra, Vodafone and 3 Mobile. Is the force with Optus?

With 3 Mobile and Vodafone, now part of the same VHA company, having launched their respective iPhone 4 plans last night, the journey of Australia's telecommunications companies to the iPhone 4 side of the force is nearly complete.

Looking at the Vodafone and 3 plans, it's clear to see Vodafone's strategy - get as many people onto the Vodafone network as possible by offering better plans on Vodafone than 3 Mobile, forcing those 'stuck' on 3 for whatever reason to accept a lesser deal while making Vodafone that much more attractive.

This could actually be a good thing for long suffering 3 Mobile users in densely populated areas, where mobile broadband speeds are pathetic, giving you effective dial-up speeds even though you're connected to a 3.5G mobile broadband modem. No wonder a gig can be purchased for $15!

And no wonder Telstra's iPhone 4 charges, and its charges in general, are so much more for quality service across its entire network, although its charges are still so high that when bills go out, millions feel a great disturbance in the Force, as millions of voices suddenly cry out in terror and are suddenly silenced, knowing something terrible is about to happen to their wallets.

Eagle eyed readers will note that I regularly thrash and bash telecommunications of all stripes, even and perhaps even especially Telstra, who while they might have the best 3.5G network in Australia, also have the highest prices and arguably the worst customer service this side of Mos Eisley.

After all, when it comes to telecommunications companies and their nefarious tricks, download limits, caps, overage charges, shaping and more, never has there been a greater hive of scum and villainy.

Well, at least in the marketing departments where the crazy plans are cooked up. The corporate communications people are always much, much nicer, the network engineers are probably all long suffering, and the customer service people probably all need both a pay rise and a holiday.

One thing is certain when it comes to the iPhone 4 and its pricing: Apple has, singlehandedly, changed the way telcos charge for data, on a global scale. Sure, all the telcos dabbled with 3.5G broadband, 3 Mobile had its X-Series, Vodafone and Optus have long thrashed Telstra for value, while Telstra thrashed its competitors for speed and coverage.

After the disappointment of the 2008 iPhone 3G on the Optus network, Optus knew it had to do something to avoid a repeat. At the time, Optus was effectively challenging us to witness the firepower of its fully armed and operational 3.5G network, only to discover that too many people on that network rendered it 'armless and not as operational as we would have liked.

Now, I've heard reports that Optus has spent tons of cash to ensure that its apparent lack of progress was reversed, doubling its efforts to keep customers happy, although whether they are more forgiving than I am is unknown.

So, what message did Optus send from upon high? Does it have code clearance? Continued on page two'¦