Re: ADSL2 Unlimited Plans (For Exetel Users Only)

[ForumAdmin]

We continue to 'wrestle' with the new realities in the ADSL2 marketplace of UNLIMITED downloads/uploads and the prices that this can be offered for.

We think that there will be ongoing 'convulsions' in the marketplace and there will be many permutations that will change ADSL2 offerings quite substantially over the coming months.

Having given this situation a great deal of thought over the past few months we are getting close to offering:

1) an unlimited ADSL2 internet plan to current Exetel customers only (and to use so many of our customer's own words - only to "loyal Exetel customers") for $A75.00 per month including an Optus telephone line.

2) an unlimited ADSL2 internet plan to current Exetel customers only (and to use so many of our customer's own words - only to "loyal Exetel customers") for $A55.00 per month BYO telephone line.

3) an unlimited ADSL2 (Naked)internet plan to current Exetel customers only (and to use so many of our customer's own words - only to "loyal Exetel customers") for $A65.00 per month no telephone line.

The offer would only be made to out of contract ADSL1 and ADSL 2 customers who have been with Exetel for over 12 months.

Minimum contract length would be 12 months.

The offer would be "By Invitation Only" through the User Facilities.

Any comments would be welcomed.

And an update:

Rather than reply to several dozen posts the current state of thinking is summed up here:
http://johnl.blogs.exetel.com.au/

If, and it's a big if, we are successful in our current 'negotiations' we could establish three simple ADSL2 plans along the lines of:

1) ADSL2 (plus telephone line) - $50.00 per month - downloads/uploads @ 50 cents per gb - capped at $A75.00 per month

2) ADSL2 (byo line) - $35.00 per month - downloads/uploads @50 cents per gb - capped at $60.00 per month

3) ADSL2 (naked) - $45.00 per month - download/uploads @ 50 cents per gb - capped at $70.00 per month

We are close on two of the elements and a bit too far away on the third element at the moment to make this a 'sure thing' but if we don't succeed in making something like this happen then I'm pretty sure someone else will in the not too distant future.

[jokiin]

Although personally I never download that much I like the idea or rewarding loyal customers, much like the pioneers discount

[vbap]

The offer would not apply to me (still have 6 months to go and there is no naked option being proposed).
Nonetheless, I really have no foreseeable need and therefore no interest in an unlimited plan and would unlikely take one up if available.

I note however that the gap between low included usage vs high/unlimited included usage is narrowing and maybe the inevitable result is that there is only one plan - an unlimited usage plan - where people pay a fixed cost for their ADSL internet access without worrying about usage. But I am wary of Exetel's previously (and recently) stated issues of having low actual usage users "subsidising" high actual usage users on the same plan which will always be the case if you cannot by your IP in "unlimited" bundles also...

I inferred from your blog that maybe the these unlimited plans offered by other ISPs would be an opportunity for Exetel to "alleviate" itself from these subsidised users and thus provide more breathing space for the "majority"? The structure of these proposed plans seems to contradict that suggestion...!

[jromz03]

no thanks, these things are too good to be true. and recently i've had an increase in my adsl2 plan (its fine, part of the business of exetel, etc, etc), so i'm not planning on moving up.

happy torrenting/downloading/whatever to those that will upgrade though.

[megb6806]

Thats sounds excellent. Ithink I've been with exetel for the last 2 years so I will take the offer....So i guess there will be no change on my current plan, right?
I am on ADSL2, with a Phone line included and with Exetel VOIp service.....

[jokiin]

But I am wary of Exetel's previously (and recently) stated issues of having low actual usage users "subsidising" high actual usage users on the same plan which will always be the case if you cannot by your IP in "unlimited" bundles also...

Invitation only possibly means any problem users could be left out, although my usage and I guess a lot of users usage doesn't need unlimited there's every chance that in the not too distant future our usage patterns will increase just through the evolution of services available online, streaming video, IP TV perhaps, I noticed in the news today talk about new routers from Cisco that have the bandwidth capability to support faster speeds than ever

to quote

At that maximum configuration, Cisco boasted the routers could in theory deliver every movie ever made in four minutes over the Internet, or connect China's entire population of 1.3 billion people by video conference at the same time.

from here http://www.smh.com.au/technology/enterp ... -pxe5.html

while that seems like overkill now I'm sure at some stage it will become reality

[goodtimes]

I'm an out of plan naked DSL user, been an exetel customer for years.

If there was a naked DSL offering like this, I'd definately sign up.

I agree with jromz03, unlimited comes at a hidden cost. Personally I'd rather everyone be on a cap including myself. There's no free lunch, and I'd rather ration my own fast bandwidth than have unlimited and slower.

[supernicko]

Would there be bandwidth prioritisation for those who are on standard plans, rather than an unlimited plan?

I'm happy to work out how much bandwidth I need and then get the right plan for me. In return, I'd like to know that I'm not going to be slowed down by those who want to leach 24/7.

I've been recently considering upgrading to Z/23IncTel. Now this new unlimited plan would be cheaper than that, so that throws something into the mix.

[jokiin]

There's no free lunch, and I'd rather ration my own fast bandwidth than have unlimited and slower.

understand what you're saying, those that choose to go this way may want to use it more than the others and to the detriment of others,

I have a feeling at some stage we will get to point where the price you pay will be based on how and at what speed you are connected, the data won't really come into it as it is likely to be the least costly part of the actual service, like you're on 256/64 you pay $30, 512/128 $40, 1500/256 $50, naked service $50, with phone, $75 etc and the data doesn't even come into play, it may be a while away but I think it could end up going that way so eventually effectively there is no data allowance or limit

[Daybreaker]

Nup, not for me, I'm flat out using the the 66 Gig on off peak I get now, have probably only used at the most 1/3 of it & have only exceeded the 6 Gig Peak limit once or twice, you can check my usage, so you know what I'm saying is true.

I consider myself to be a "heavy" internet user, I find little point in having 66 Gig if the most I can use is 20 Gig in a month, better to either roll back the peak time to Midnight or increase the Peak by a minimum of 2 Gig.

These "Unlimited Plans" are pure BS, all they do is suck Numbnutz into paying for a service they can never fully utilize.

[Cerberus]

great news, Thanks Exetel for appreciating the customers.

Based on what the email said I would go with this plan as it is a lot cheaper (nearly half) than my current monthly price. I would however have to look at the terms and conditions just to make sure I don't shoot myself in the foot sometime in the future.

Personally I don't need much more than the 120GB per month I have currently but I suppose this is good when I need to go 5 or gigs over and I don't have to worry about getting charged more or shaped.

Does ForumAdmin or anyone have any idea when more information will come out about these plans becuase I am on one of those old plans that I was going to switch to a new plan by 1st april and I'm thinking it would be good if I could just switch to this unlimited plan.

Cheers

[armthehomeless]

Great idea, although I'm happy with my current plan.

Would love to see a 'naked' option

[vbap]

while that seems like overkill now I'm sure at some stage it will become reality

Oh, I have no doubt about that ("Computers will never need a GIGABYTE of memory!", and all of that...)

I just can't see a sustainable business model of selling something in "unlimited" quantities for a flat fee, unless the business can source it in "unlimited" quantities. If I ever need to download every movie ever made within 4 minutes, then I would be happy to pay for it (and then not pay for internet access ever again as it would take the rest of my life to watch them...)

Hot on the heels of Exetel removing included "frills" from existing plans and then increasing old plans by $5 because the pricing model was wrong, and they are proposing unlimited download plans! Personally - I could well be way off the mark - the focus on download quotas and peak/off-peak are mis-directed.

I want the frills to come back into focus (eg the proposed wireless-as-backup-to-ADSL, a mixed services VoIP add-on bundle, etc).

[BrendanS]

I've been out of contract for about six months now I think, so I'd qualify I assume. I'd see no reason to take up the offer. I'm on the IncPhone22 plan and unless I'm missing something I'm already paying $70/month for 90gb of downloads. So I'd be dumb not to pay $5 extra, especially since I've already managed to wander 5gb/$2.50 over my offpeak data for the month (how I didn't realise I don't know).

Right now the plan I'm on I consider excellent value, but not just because of the price I'm paying. It's excellent value because the service I'm provided is top quality. Speeds are fast and I never have any hassles. However if there was a seperate pool of heavy users I'd much rather stay on the plan I'm on now, or move to the IncPhone23 plan. I'm not interested in any other 'frills' as per the above poster, I just want basic, fast, high quota internet.

[AKZam]

I have a feeling at some stage we will get to point where the price you pay will be based on how and at what speed you are connected, the data won't really come into it as it is likely to be the least costly part of the actual service, like you're on 256/64 you pay $30, 512/128 $40, 1500/256 $50, naked service $50, with phone, $75 etc and the data doesn't even come into play, it may be a while away but I think it could end up going that way so eventually effectively there is no data allowance or limit

Yeah, somewhat like every other civilised nation in the world, the idea of limited bandwidth is unfamiliar to pretty much anyone in the UK, Europe and America/Canada. But anyhow, its a little off topic, but i just want to point out that whilst i consider myself a 'loyal Exetel customer' (after being with Exetel for 5 or so years, unfortunately at many different addresses) - I would be unable to jump on one of these plans. Now, I understand that Telstra dictates a lot of this stuff, and as such when you move house you become a new customer again, and again (as in my case) - but what I don't understand is why Exetel can not track me through their system - they know who I am, they have my name and contact details - I can provide the 5 or so phone numbers I have used over the years. Its a bit %&$& being a new customer again after 5 years of loyal service.

Rant complete, sorry for the hijack - i have just always struggled to get my head around this stuff.

Have a good day, and good luck to anyone that gets one of these plans - i would hazard a guess and suggest that many users would see the same 'ghosts' in the system that we have all experienced at one time or another which reduce download speeds during off peak hours to little more than a trickle.