Comments on: Navigating Australian Broadband: A Quick Roundup of Several National Broadband Plans http://stopthecap.com/2009/11/19/navigating-australian-broadband-a-quick-roundup-of-several-national-broadband-plans/ Promoting Better Broadband, Fighting Data Caps, Usage-Based Billing, & Other Internet Overcharging Schemes Thu, 24 May 2012 22:53:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Ian L http://stopthecap.com/2009/11/19/navigating-australian-broadband-a-quick-roundup-of-several-national-broadband-plans/#comment-7630 Ian L Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:44:48 +0000 http://stopthecap.com/?p=6066#comment-7630 For those who don't know, Telstra is AUS's equivalent to pre-breakup AT&T. They own all the copper phone lines. Also, in many places (Australia included) ADSL service is sold in a limited number of tiers: low-speed/low-price and as-fast-as-it-will-go at a higher price (with varying caps in AUS and elsewhere). So when a company says "up to 20 Mbps" or "up to 24 Mbps" they just mean "the fastest stable connection your copper pair can provide." Also, BigPond Cable (from Telstra) has two speed tiers, four or five transfer tiers per speed tier and two ways of dealing with overlimit fees. Caps are offered at 200MB, 400MB, 12GB, 25GB and (Extreme-only) 60GB. 12GB and 25GB don't have overlimit charges, but after you hit your cap (Telstra sites don't count) you're throttled down to 64 kbps. The other plans are 18¢ per MB extra, something that would make even mobile broadband providers in the US blush. Also, overall pricing per GB even on high-end plans is high: over $1 per GB no matter which cable plan you get, though ADSL2+ plans are better on the price per GB front. Well, unless you buy from Telstra, in which case you'll be paying about A$30 more per month for ADSL2+ than for cable. Also, NetSpace's 1GB ADSL2+ plan is a great deal for lower-usage folks, considering you'd be paying $60+ for the same thing from Telstra. Sure beats 200MB or 450MB. Also, according to the sites I just checked, Dodo's plan is 150GB, not 200GB, though 50GB vs. 40GB is available during peak times. For those who don’t know, Telstra is AUS’s equivalent to pre-breakup AT&T. They own all the copper phone lines. Also, in many places (Australia included) ADSL service is sold in a limited number of tiers: low-speed/low-price and as-fast-as-it-will-go at a higher price (with varying caps in AUS and elsewhere). So when a company says “up to 20 Mbps” or “up to 24 Mbps” they just mean “the fastest stable connection your copper pair can provide.”

Also, BigPond Cable (from Telstra) has two speed tiers, four or five transfer tiers per speed tier and two ways of dealing with overlimit fees. Caps are offered at 200MB, 400MB, 12GB, 25GB and (Extreme-only) 60GB. 12GB and 25GB don’t have overlimit charges, but after you hit your cap (Telstra sites don’t count) you’re throttled down to 64 kbps. The other plans are 18¢ per MB extra, something that would make even mobile broadband providers in the US blush. Also, overall pricing per GB even on high-end plans is high: over $1 per GB no matter which cable plan you get, though ADSL2+ plans are better on the price per GB front. Well, unless you buy from Telstra, in which case you’ll be paying about A$30 more per month for ADSL2+ than for cable.

Also, NetSpace’s 1GB ADSL2+ plan is a great deal for lower-usage folks, considering you’d be paying $60+ for the same thing from Telstra. Sure beats 200MB or 450MB.

Also, according to the sites I just checked, Dodo’s plan is 150GB, not 200GB, though 50GB vs. 40GB is available during peak times.

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