Those Unlimited ADSL2+ plans that were unveiled on Whirlpool last month are now officially available. For just $75 a month, you get unlimited ADSL2+ broadband. No upload limits, no download limits. Of course there is a catch, although it’s only a temporary one…
It looks like AAPT opened the floodgates – TPG has announced on the Whirlpool forums know that they’re planning on launching an unlimited ADSL2+ plan for $75 a month.
How long have we been lamenting data caps with Australian Broadband? While we constantly read about the US complaining that they might have to start dealing with data caps, we sit here wishing for a world where data caps are a thing of the past. Well, yesterday AAPT took a step in that direction by offering an ADSL2+ bundle with unlimited data for $100 a month.
Remember late last month when we brought word that Internode was reselling Telstra’s ADSL2+ service? Well, they’re selling it from today. The pricing looks pretty decent as well – while 2GB for $70 a month doesn’t seem like a lot, 55GB for $130 is a pretty good deal, especially when you compare it to the BigPond prices. And while some of you inner suburb dwellers will scoff, remember that some of us out in the outer suburbs have only had once choice for ADSL2+, and that choice being Telstra. Anyway, check out Internode’s website to get a full rundown of plans available and see if your exchange is one of the lucky ones.
Finally people (like me) stuck in areas where Telstra is the only option for ADSL2+ broadband will get another alternative, with Internode announcing yesterday that they’ll be reselling Telstra’s wholesale offering. This adds about 900 local exchanges to the 110 that Internode run their own equipment on, plus the 350 that they wholesale from Optus. Hopefully their won’t be any price increase for using Telstra’s wholesale service, but in any case, Internode’s offering is almost certain to be better than what the Big T is offering anyway.
Most of you download-hungry Gizmodians probably won’t be able to make the most of these new entry-level Naked DSL pricings from Internode, but if you have a Nanna somewhere looking for some good value broadbandand VoIP bundles, you might want to point them in this general direction. Essentially, Internode has dropped the price of its entry-level Naked DSL plans to $50.
There are two plans: the Home-NakedExtreme-5 service, which runs of Internode’s own equipment and includes 5GB of data, or the Home-Naked-1, which runs of Optus’ wholesale equipment and includes 1GB of data. I’m assuming that which option you get depends on where you live and what exchanges Internode’s set up on.
On top of these plans you can bundle Internode’s Node2Phone VoIP service, with pre-paid bundles starting at $5 a month for $10 worth of calls. And if you exceed your monthly data quota, you’ll be happy to know that Internode has doubled the amount of data in their data blocks. So where $5 would have bought you 1GB, it now gives you 2GB.
It’s good to see ISPs pushing the naked bandwagon. Now all we need is for one of them to set up their equipment in my local exchange so I can move away from Telstra-run equipment…
Naked DSL seems to be getting a lot of fans in Australia at the moment, from consumers to ISPs. It might have something to do with the exorbitant price of line rental through Telstra and Optus, or it might just be that people like the thought of anything – even broadband – naked. We can’t decide.
Internode recently launched the Naked DSL service to new numbers, and within weeks had garnered over 1000 people signing up to the service. The success has prompted the company to rollout Naked DSL to existing phone services.
It’ll cost you $129 to make the switch – which is $20 cheaper than setting up a new number – and plans start at $60 per month for 5GB worth of data. For $10 per month extra, you can add a VoIP service to your bill, which includes $10 worth of calls.
The service is available at about 350 exchanges, although you’ll need to enter your phone number on Internode’s website to find out whether you’re eligible.
The process of switching is supposed to be a relatively painless one, but they would say that. if anybody decides to make the switch, let us know how it went in comments.
To the surprise of precisely nobody, the implementation of a new fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) broadband network in Australia is already being delayed. The Australian reported today that the project is being hit with a four month delay because of the need to confirm an expert panel and to appease telecoms providers who say they need more time.
So, as it stands, the telecoms have until the end of July to submit their bids. After that there will be a three to four month decision-making process before the winner is chosen. Then it will take up to five years to build the network, although we’d expect to see a progressive rollout over that period, so if you live in the city you’ll probably get access well before rural Australians do.
