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Telstra announces pre-paid wireless broadband

Telstra has taken another swipe at Optus, announcing today that it will offer pre-paid access to its Next G wireless broadband network –- but Telstra’s plans are more expensive than its rivals.

Aimed at young people, frequent travellers and personal users, Telstra hopes to capitalise on the range of its Next G service and the popularity of pre-paid accounts with young people.

This puts Telstra in direct competition against Optus, which launched a pre-paid wireless broadband service earlier this year.

Customers will be able to buy a $149 pre-paid wireless broadband pack, containing a USB model, a Telstra Next G SIM card and $10 start-up credit. The modems are pre-loaded with self-installing software that runs on Windows XP, Vista, 2000 and Apple Mac.

Telstra said that wireless broadband users could expect typical speeds of 550kbps to 1.5Mbps bursting up to 3Mbps in selected areas.

Customers will be able to purchase variable re-charges, from $20 through to $100 for an effective allowance of 6GB of eligible data each month.

By comparison, 6GB of data costs $70 with Optus Pre-Paid Wireless Broadband; $100 will purchase 9GB of eligible data.

Glenice Maclellan, Telstra Executive Director, Consumer Marketing, said that wireless broadband connected users faster in more places than any other 3G network in Australia.

“Pre-Paid Wireless Broadband simply plugs into your laptop giving you access to the Next G network without having to connect any cables so you can surf the web at uni, use it on the train and take it with you really simply if you move house.

“Telstra’s Pre-Paid Wireless Broadband has no contracts or minimum monthly commitments. It provides the ultimate flexibility, is simple to use and can be recharged at more than 5000 locations across Australia.”

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Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.

Comments: 10

Of course the plans are more expensive - its not just the data you are purchasing or the equipment, you are purchasing the significantly wider coverage that Telstra has invested in and more reliability in the network you are using. I suggest less bias towards Telstra and more research into what you are actually paying for before simply saying 'the plans are more expensive' and look at what you are actually getting for the price.

Posted by Sunny, Sep 17, 2008 10:49 PM

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After using both Telstra Next G and Optus 3G, I can honestly say that the Telstra offer while more expensive, is definately better value for money. It just works, no issues, no slowdowns and no dropouts. The same can not be said of Outus. It's quite clear that Optus need to invest heavily to make their 3G a reasonable service, if they did this, perhaps they'd have to charge closer to the Telstra price.

You get what you pay for.

Posted by James, Sep 18, 2008 7:53 AM

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Ummm where? This isn't listed at all on their website.

Posted by Cameron, Sep 18, 2008 11:36 AM

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It seems iTnews has beaten Telstra to the anouncement! Go the telsrw website and search for "prepaid wireless broadband". All it says coming soon, set 22nd!

Posted by Narna, Sep 18, 2008 12:51 PM

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Where this could differ substantially from Optus' offering is in the expiry of credit. While only (minimally) $30, the Optus recharge also only lasts a month, meaning a $30 a month commitment no matter how little you use it. I have broadband at home and at work, so I would rarely need my wireless broadband. For an occasional user such as myself who needs access to send an email or do an SVN commit the Optus pre-paid is not necessarily good value. While $30 a month for access seems reasonable, $10 PER USE is a little high.

If (and it's a big if) Telstra offer longer (or no) credit expiry then that $50 worth of credit might well last me 4 or 5 months, by which time I would have racked up $150 with Optus.

It's unwise to draw such a broad term as "more expensive" when people's usage may differ so dramatically.

Posted by Matt Burgess, Sep 18, 2008 3:10 PM

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Yes, Telstra has made an official announcement about the launch of pre-paid wireless broadband.

You can read more here:

http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/media/announcements_article.cfm?ObjectID=43422

Posted by Kathryn Small, Sep 18, 2008 3:25 PM

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I'm excited to see this space growing and new carriers entering the market. Prepaid broadband is a great product with a lot to offer. It will be interesting to see where the average pricing lands.

Cheers,
PrepaidWirelessGuy
http://www.prepaid-wireless-guide.com/prepaid-wireless-internet.html

Posted by PrepaidWirelessGuy, Sep 19, 2008 7:43 AM

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The whole point of wireless Broadband is you can access the internet "anywhere" at decent speeds. Optus maybe cheaper but trying using them on a business trip to a regional area USELESS unlike Telstra zoom zoom. Also don't forget that Telstra charges per KB rather than Optus's 10MB blocks so say your with Optus you downloaded a 45KB email and then you disconnect WHOA there's 10MB GONE!

Posted by Nick, Oct 7, 2008 4:44 PM

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Optus and Telstra a simply not comparable as far as Wireless internet are concerned. "You get what you pay for" and "If something seems too good to be true - it probably isn't true" comes to mind. With Optus, $30 gets you 2 Gig per month, each day you are charged for 10Mb when you first connect, and you aren't charged anything further until you use over 30Mb (All that runs rings around Telstra). Then, as stated above, you are charged in mulitples of 10Mb each and every time you connect - which doesn't sound too bad really, but, you may have to reconnect 5 or 6 times within 10minutes when the connection keeps dropping out resulting in loosing 60Mb credit just to check you email without even receiving any email! Mind you, at the end of the month I still had 1 Gig out of the 2 Gig allowance left on my account because most days it was too hard to stay online long enough to get over the initial 30Mb for the day! They give you a usage meter so you can keep track. But, apart from the 'daily' use resetting itself when you disconnect, it doesn't distinguish between use at their designated 'free' sites and normal usage, so doesn't actually help at all. When using my 3G mobile as a wireless modem, if you had any signal, you had fast reliable internet. The Optus prepaid wireless modem however - if you want to use it at 4am its great. If you want to use it during 'normal' times - expect congestion resulting successive and intermittent disconnections and speeds which make you wish you had a dial-up connection! While the Telstra wireles prepaid prices are much cheaper than their mobile 3G charges, I still think they could make it more affordable.

Posted by Jen Jen, Oct 24, 2008 11:38 AM

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When referring to "using my 3G mobile as a wireless modem" I meant "my Telstra Next G mobile"! Sorry for any confusion there!

Posted by Jen Jen, Oct 24, 2008 11:44 AM

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Telstra announces pre-paid wireless broadband

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