Bully
13-12-2003, 06:01 PM
OPTUS' imminent ADSL broadband launch is behind the telco's new round of cable broadband price cuts, as a bitter price battle looms between the number two telco and its arch-rival Telstra.
Optus emailed its cable broadband customers today informing them that their data download allowance would be increased at no extra cost. Those on the lowest download plans, 550MB per month, will be able to download 3GB, and those on the 3GB plans will get 6GB.
The increases will only be temporary, covering January and February, and Optus will announce new pricing plans in March which are unlikely to reduce the data allowances. "We're very confident that the plans we bring to make in March will be very competitive," Optus' consumer and multimedia marketing director Scott Lorson said.
Telstra BigPond announced earlier this month it would introduce new ADSL and cable plans with "soft" download caps.
Telstra was the first broadband ISP to introduce pricing caps in 2001 and makes 15 to 20 per cent of its broadband revenue from the rate it charges for data once the download limit has been reached. On some plans, users were charged more than 15c per megabyte if they exceed 500MB in a month. As a result, some customers found themselves with bills for thousands of dollars for a month's usage.
Mr Lorson denied the cable price changes were prompted by Telstra's move, saying that Telstra's decision was in fact pre-empting Optus' launch into the ADSL market early next year.
Optus claims to be the number one broadband provider in areas where its cable service is available, with more market share than Telstra and other ISPs combined. Mr Lorson said Telstra was bracing for the competition Optus would provide in the ADSL market next year.
"We fully anticipated that Telstra would need to do a major overhaul of their plans to remain competitive in the broadband space," he said.
In addition, he said, Optus was able to pass on cost savings to customers as it achieved "significant scale" and reduced input costs.
Optus emailed its cable broadband customers today informing them that their data download allowance would be increased at no extra cost. Those on the lowest download plans, 550MB per month, will be able to download 3GB, and those on the 3GB plans will get 6GB.
The increases will only be temporary, covering January and February, and Optus will announce new pricing plans in March which are unlikely to reduce the data allowances. "We're very confident that the plans we bring to make in March will be very competitive," Optus' consumer and multimedia marketing director Scott Lorson said.
Telstra BigPond announced earlier this month it would introduce new ADSL and cable plans with "soft" download caps.
Telstra was the first broadband ISP to introduce pricing caps in 2001 and makes 15 to 20 per cent of its broadband revenue from the rate it charges for data once the download limit has been reached. On some plans, users were charged more than 15c per megabyte if they exceed 500MB in a month. As a result, some customers found themselves with bills for thousands of dollars for a month's usage.
Mr Lorson denied the cable price changes were prompted by Telstra's move, saying that Telstra's decision was in fact pre-empting Optus' launch into the ADSL market early next year.
Optus claims to be the number one broadband provider in areas where its cable service is available, with more market share than Telstra and other ISPs combined. Mr Lorson said Telstra was bracing for the competition Optus would provide in the ADSL market next year.
"We fully anticipated that Telstra would need to do a major overhaul of their plans to remain competitive in the broadband space," he said.
In addition, he said, Optus was able to pass on cost savings to customers as it achieved "significant scale" and reduced input costs.