ADSL Plans/$10 - $25 Per Month Discounts

[patient]

Hi

when are you hoping/aiming to implement the bundling option (assuming you decide to go ahead)?

cheers

[phoenixx]

The big problem as stated by earlier posts is people are stuck with the telstra monthly line rental no matter what they do; plus some people live in areas where optus tower saturation is low compared to subscribers so quality of service suffers.

I would suggest moving to "BOB" style services where either:
A: You try to offer decent priced full speed ADSL1 (8meg) (or basic speed ADSL2) plans on naked DSL with a combined VOIP phone/modem device - A lot of VOIP companies are taking some of the ISP pie by doing this - if you can get access to the phone number porting network you can basically compete with telstra, and still offer a home phone with their old number. It would be CRITICAL that you included battery backup on units like this otherwise you get the "but we cant make calls when the power is out" problem. So from your perspective you are looking at supplying a UPS, and a decent quality (not Billion) combo ADSL/VOIP router; or a separate voip box and ADSL router bundle (as user may need, ie they may already have a modem but not a voip box) you would need to be running a lot of redundancy to eliminate network drop outs killing peoples phones, so you need to work on your up time. You would have to offer this on contract tho - as at the moment the naked DSL and porting charges would put 99% of people off this, it would only work with no charge to hook it up, and just the monthly access fee.

B: You offer 3G/4G/802.11 packages with VOIP phones, or 3G internet with working mobile phones included (and possibly dual sim load balancing to keep the download speeds and reliability up) this is basically mobile phone technology, but you are limited by available tech, those usb sticks are pretty crummy - mine maxes out on the optus network under primus at about 80k/s tho I have seen telstra ones rip along at 150k+ so you need to be getting decent tech. There is also the 802.11a/b/g path here, but you are fighting frequency saturation by Telstra, who has attached an 802.11b/g access point to all their towers lately, not sure what for, but it certainly drowned out/jammed my public wifi network's signal.

Whichever way you go it will be expensive from your perspective to put together a package that appeals. At the moment most 3G plans are basically bordering on scams, price/benefit wise. Charging ADSL2 prices with 1980's download allowances and cost per/meg. Even most ADSL2 plans are uneconomical - with download limits bordering on a bad joke for what you pay - especially when most ADSL2 plans in real world use only run at speeds less than an uncapped ADSL1 8meg connection - so why not just use ADSL1 instead? At least it has decent phone exchange penetration VS overpriced, and just as slow ADSL2

[ForumAdmin]

Hi

when are you hoping/aiming to implement the bundling option (assuming you decide to go ahead)?

cheers

I was hoping for October 1st but that is now looking unlikely.

[paracin]

Are there any updates on implementation date?
Regards, Mike

[ForumAdmin]

November 1st 2010.

[ForumAdmin]

We are, assuming that the Optus administration labyrinth can actually produce a contract, preparing to offer the Optus 'follow me' capped plans at a lower cost than Optus sell 'retail' plus a $10.00 - $15.00 discount from the cost of any Exetel ADSL plan.

So, as an example we would sell the Optus $29.95 plan for $19.95 PLUS give a $10.00 discount on any ADSL plan PLUS provide the mobile service on no contract.

Another example would be offering the $19.95 plan for $9.95 with an ADSL plan but no discount from the ADSL plan.

Or, for higher end users, offer the Optus $49.95 plan for $34.95 with $15.00 off any ADSL plan.

[Spectator]

They are sounding very competitive. I think the $49 Optus plan at an effective price of $20 should be pretty popular. Not sure if there is any point offering the 19.95 (9.95) plan though as the effective price of the $29 plan is the same when all discounts are taken into account - could be useful in households with multiple mobile accounts I guess, as there is a limit to how much ADSL can be discounted.

I just signed up to a post-paid plan otherwise I would be seriously considering these.

[David R]

So purely mathematically speaking this "$49 cap" would be offered at 0.41X its retail price-tag, giving effectively a A$20.00/mth plan;

From the Optus website, included value "$420" would enable ~7hours talk time (based on 3min calls) to any Aus PSTN/mobile network, and this plan would also come with 1GB Mobile data.
I read this from http://personal.optus.com.au - Plans & Rates: Mobile "BYO handset" plans
if those details are correct?

Q: What sort of fee would be involved in porting an existing mobile number to this cap?
+On the HSPA data side, would the 1GB inclusion be provisioned sufficient adequate to facilitate MoIP i.e. mobile SIP-VoIP (or perhaps this would necessitate the more expensive 2c/MB via "Exetel' WBP" plan instead)?

• ....Some speedtest.net samples would be worthwhile to evaluate.

Edit: I also evaluate $250pGB charged for any excess data and the Optuscap good for only calls to 'AUstralia' (as normal)- things could get v-expensive/&or tricky fast. Probably the WBP would be best option for a conservative subscriber (myself). I think in another year caps will likely offer 'timeless calls' to within Australia for $30-$20/mth and todays 'discounting' merely reflects the shift taking place.

Or, for higher end users, offer the Optus $49.95 plan for $34.95 with $15.00 off any ADSL plan.

I am amazed these bundles reflect better than a 50% discount on 'voice'.

[tones]

So, as an example we would sell the Optus $29.95 plan for $19.95 PLUS give a $10.00 discount on any ADSL plan PLUS provide the mobile service on no contract.

Or, for higher end users, offer the Optus $49.95 plan for $34.95 with $15.00 off any ADSL plan.

While these 2 plans would also tempt me to switch both my plan and my wife's, I think "Capped" plans are a misnomer, with high call charges and no actual cut off when your "included value" is reached. I have read about the Optus billing system only showing your raw used value (at the expensive call rates) and then at the end of the month the discounts included in your cap are calculated. While I have no experience of this style of bill myself, it sounds like it puts you in danger of going over your cap by large amounts.

Is there any chance of making them actually cap (Ie. When the credit runs out no more calls can be made for the month) or could we get an email/sms/voice message at the start of a call, when the cap amount is running out so that this doesn't happen.

[ForumAdmin]

So, as an example we would sell the Optus $29.95 plan for $19.95 PLUS give a $10.00 discount on any ADSL plan PLUS provide the mobile service on no contract.

Or, for higher end users, offer the Optus $49.95 plan for $34.95 with $15.00 off any ADSL plan.

While these 2 plans would also tempt me to switch both my plan and my wife's, I think "Capped" plans are a misnomer, with high call charges and no actual cut off when your "included value" is reached. I have read about the Optus billing system only showing your raw used value (at the expensive call rates) and then at the end of the month the discounts included in your cap are calculated. While I have no experience of this style of bill myself, it sounds like it puts you in danger of going over your cap by large amounts.

Is there any chance of making them actually cap (Ie. When the credit runs out no more calls can be made for the month) or could we get an email/sms/voice message at the start of a call, when the cap amount is running out so that this doesn't happen.

As we will simply be 're-selling' the standard Optus retail plans we have no ability to modify any of the terms except the base price.

I fully share your views about "capped" plans but that is what the markets/marketers have determined is the way to go, for almost two decades, so that is the situation.

I don't know what 'user facilities' there are for Optus mobile phone plans but, before they are put on the web site I'll ensure we find out.

[ExetelVoice]

I have read about the Optus billing system only showing your raw used value (at the expensive call rates) and then at the end of the month the discounts included in your cap are calculated. While I have no experience of this style of bill myself, it sounds like it puts you in danger of going over your cap by large amounts.

Is there any chance of making them actually cap (Ie. When the credit runs out no more calls can be made for the month) or could we get an email/sms/voice message at the start of a call, when the cap amount is running out so that this doesn't happen.

This is a good point however a difficult thing to do. Calculating the actual pro-rata cap value DURING the billing month is a rather painful process and no doubt why Optus don't do it. It essentially involves processing a 'real' bill run every single day of the month, which uses resources and time. Getting the 'raw' value is easy enough but with capped plans doesn't really mean a lot, unless you have the time to sit down and nut out the cap value yourself. What we do on our current mobile caps is allow customers to set a threshold (based on the raw value) at which point an alert is sent. Say, for example, you can set it at 80% of your raw value spend, an alert is sent at that point. This will, of course, still be available to the new caps.

We will liaise with billing/development and see what may be possible.

[psps]

It is a good consideration & at least Exetel is trying to compete. Telstra like to impose what their "Big" managers, marketing stooges & "Yes Men" think the public want....no consultation needed. However in my particular case The Optus bundle offers look to good (It is without doubt all providers are shaking about this)

However in my case my mobile contract with Helstra has run out so I am in the market for a new phone i.e Android smartphone, so Exetel offering mobile is not really an option for me. It is a shame because I would much rather see my money go to an Australian company not some corporate so & so in Singapore. The price pressure is just to great & too tempting not to take it. I am no marketing genius but I just can't see how Exetel (or Tel$tra for that matter) is going to compete with this $129 fusion plan dropped to $99. If Exetel starts offering the phone & the cap plan as offered on the Optus website then there will be a massive chance I will stay with Exetel.

I must say aside from the usual problems (Something that all Telco's have) I am overall quite happy with the product I am receiving from Exetel. I find Exetel an equal to any ISP in all departments but the pressure to switch is massive. When you have 3 kids the pressure to save any pennies is high!!!

[vbap]

Would these bundles replace the vodafone mobile cap / per minute plans?

[ForumAdmin]

Would these bundles replace the vodafone mobile cap / per minute plans?

Current customers can stay on their Vodafone plans - Vodafone plans won't be offered to new customers once the Optus plans are available.

[vbap]

Current customers can stay on their Vodafone plans - Vodafone plans won't be offered to new customers once the Optus plans are available.

In which case, the Optus $19 "cap", offered at $9/month with no ADSL discount would be useful for my wife who is currently on Mobile 1 per minute and spends ~ $5/mo. I would swap her over to optus once she gets a "smartphone" and is likely to use more data.