Bigpond Wireless Plan Review Request

In January 2010 Telstra/Bigpond released a set of new wireless plans, however while the top plan received a slight decrease in cost the quota was not increased at all.

The Announcement: http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/media/announcements_article.cfm?ObjectID=46342
The Plans: http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/media/wireless-broadband-plans.cfm

Then on March 23 2010 Telstra/Bigpond released a series of bundle options to help their customers save by combining their services and having multiple services with them, however these bundles excluded those users with wireless only connections as they are only available to ADSL/Cable users.

Details: http://www.bigpond.com/internet/plans/bundles/home-bundles-plans/

While many people use wireless broadband as a secondary connection in addition to their ADSL/Cable connection there are quite a few, especially in remote/rural/regional locations, that have wireless as their PRIMARY and ONLY broadband connection due to ADSL/Cable not being available. While satellite is an alternative it is not a viable alternative to wireless due to cost, even less quota and stability of connection.

This petition is a request for Telstra/Bigpond to re-review the plans for Wireless broadband and for Telstra/Bigpond to release a new set of wireless broadband plans that provide sufficient quota at affordable and fair pricing of which is already enjoyed by its ADSL/Cable clients.

As at 19/4/2010 the Wireless plans are;

BigPond Liberty® 400MB $29.95 ($74.87 per GB)
BigPond Liberty® 1GB $39.95 ($39.95 per GB)
BigPond Liberty® 3GB $49.95 ($16.65 per GB)
BigPond Liberty® 6GB $79.95 ($13.32 per GB)
BigPond Liberty® 10GB $119.95 ($11.99 per GB)

As at 19/4/2010 the ADSL2+/Cable plans are;

BigPond Elite ADSL/Cable 2GB $49.95 ($24.98 per GB)
BigPond Elite ADSL/Cable 12GB $69.95 ($5.83 per GB)
BigPond Elite ADSL/Cable 25GB $89.95 ($3.60 per GB)
BigPond Elite ADSL/Cable 50GB $109.95 ($2.20 per GB)
BigPond Elite ADSL/Cable 100GB $129.95 ($1.30 per GB)
BigPond Elite ADSL/Cable 200GB $179.95 ($0.90 per GB)

As can be seen in the above comparison the plan size options between wireless and ADSL/Cable are quite obvious, what is worse however is the price per GB that wireless users are paying in comparison to ADSL/Cable users.

UPDATE: On the 25th July 2010 Telstra released additional new plans for ADSL/Cable

http://go.bigpond.com/broadband/index.jsp

BigPond Turbo 2GB Liberty 2GB 24 months From $9.95
BigPond Elite 2GB Liberty 2GB 24 months From $19.95
BigPond Elite 50GB Liberty 50GB 24 months From $49.95
BigPond Elite 200GB Liberty 200GB 24 months From $69.95

Oh and wireless got;

http://go.bigpond.com/wireless/index.jsp

BigPond Liberty® 400MB plan 400MB 24 months From $9.95
BigPond Liberty® 1GB plan 1GB 24 months From $19.95
BigPond Liberty® 3GB plan 3GB 24 months From $29.95
BigPond Liberty® 6GB plan 6GB 24 months From $59.95
BigPond Liberty® 10GB plan 10GB 24 months From $99.95

Whoopie!

So now lets look at the top plans for each delivery method shall we;
ADSL has 200GB at $69.95 so that is a tiny 35c per GB.
Wireless has 10GB now for $99.95 so that is still a massive $9.95 per GB.

This is NOT a request for like for like plans, as in this is not a request for the wireless plans to be the same size and cost as ADSL/Cable, however they do drastically need to be made fairer and sufficient for today’s internet user needs.

The internet provides a rich environment of various types of media, online entertainment and social networking of which many enjoy on a daily basis, however many wireless users have to continually manage and scrutinise the way in which they use the internet each month to remain within their allocated monthly quota. This will include the websites they visit, the online entertainment sites they use and any files they may want or need to download, including software and operating system updates. While shaping is provided and no excess charges are applied if a wireless user goes over quota, the shaping speed makes the use of the internet painfully slow.

While in comparison ADSL/Cable users can enjoy the internet at full speed all the time with much larger quota allowances at much more affordable prices.