TPG considering unlimited NBN plan

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in brief National broadband provider TPG is reportedly considering launching a National Broadband Network pricing plan offering unlimited download quota, similar to its popular existing ADSL2+ unlimited plans. iTNews reports (click here for the full article):

“TPG general manager of marketing and sales Craig Levy … said the company was “looking at all our options” for NBN pricing, including an unlimited quota plan, and was planning to compete heavily on the network.”

Along with Dodo and Vodafone, TPG is one of the few major Australian broadband providers not to have released any pricing details for National Broadband Network plans. In fact, it is unclear to what extent the company has actually engaged with NBN Co’s ‘on-boarding’ process, whereby ISPs work out how their systems will interconnect with the National Broadband Network.

In addition, it is unclear whether the ISP could maintain similar pricing levels on an NBN unlimited plan to its existing ADSL2+ unlimited plans, which typically cost around $70. The maximum a user could theoretically download over a month through an unlimited ADSL2+ plan is around 6.3TB. However, with the dramatically faster speeds available under the NBN — up to 100Mbps, as opposed to up to 24Mbps under ADSL2+, that total monthly download limit could be quadrupled. That extra quota cost could potentially drive up monthly plan costs on unlimited plans. The maximum quota other ISPs are currently offering on their NBN plans is between one terabyte and two terabytes.

In a presentation to investors this week, TPG also listed a number of advantages it has over other ISPs in an NBN environment — ranging from the fact that its PIPE Networks subsidiary already has fibre to 2/3 of the available NBN interconnect points, its international fibre links and its existing levels of familiarity with fibre broadband services. In Australia’s retail ISP environment, TPG is considered second only to Telstra and Optus when it comes the scale of its fibre infrastructure, due primarily to its PIPE Networks acquisition in 2009 — although Primus also has substantial fibre infrastructure (but a vastly reduced retail customer base compared with TPG).

18 COMMENTS

      • I was going to say, the remaining 143.7GB of my quota would look to be remarkably bad value if that number were correct. =)

        • It’s a new government bandwidth-limiting policy implemented via an Internet filter to save the environment — didn’t I tell you? ;)

          • That’s where text websites are really good for the environment. The top few bit of each byte is zero in text reducing power usage sending all those ones ;)

  1. Uh… 24 mbps *60 seconds *60 minutes *24 hours *30 days /1024 Mb per Gigabit /8 Gigabit per gigabyte = 7.41 gigabytes

    According to my calculations anyways

    • I can knock over 7.5gig in a matter of hours – so your calculations are off somewhere!
      (Note: Given a nice fast server to download from)

      I think you’re out by a factor of 1000.

  2. If they somehow squeak out an unlimited plan, who knows if the product will be any good (contention ratio wise), but it will be interesting option to look at.

    My guess is they will limit the unlimited (ironic?) plans to the 12 or 25 megabit market segment. The higher bandwidth plans might have “shaped unlimited” plans, there is lots of room to offer high quotas (say 1TB) at 100 megabits, and shape to say 12 megabits after that.

    To be honest; I am wondering why such plans haven’t been announced and or don’t run more often on ADSL2+ networks. (say upto 20megabits, shaped to say 2 or 4 megabits). Unrealistically low shaping speeds are a real issue that need to get ironed out.

  3. TPG only offer “unlimited” ADSL2+ on their “On-Net” plans, ie their own DSLAMs in mainly metro exchanges.

    Once you move outside the mainly metro exchanges to”Off-Net” plans, ie Telstra DSLAMs TPG dont offer “unlimited” ADLS2+. The maximum “Off-Net” TPG plan is 500GB at $99.99
    http://www.tpg.com.au/products_services/broadband-offnet

    So their coverage of “unlimited” ADSL2+ is limited.

    • They only offer unlimited because they have huge backhaul capacity with their purchase of pipe networks. Makes no sense to not use it if it costs them nothing. That would not continue forever though. While the capacity is excess it’s free for them. More, higher volume users and the bandwidth becomes a commodity with value. You only have to read some of the “Why does my connection go really slow of an evening” threads the predominate their forum to see the free ride is having it’s consequences.

  4. I’m just wondering if with the new network on my current adsl2+ plan will i finally be able to actually receive my full 20ishMbit down instead of the maybe 6Mbit I currently receive because of my distance from the exchange.

  5. Hopefully the Libs will wipe the floor with Labor next election, and keep the copper network. So far pricing for the NBN is a rip-off. The speed I get from my connection is good enough, and I won’t get the same download for the same price with the NBN.

    • Lucky your great grand parents did not think the same way as you or we would still be getting water from the backyard well. The NBN is not for us it is for the next generation.

    • Pays to shop around, the only one with bad pricing is Telstra. Or are you really not on the NBN but in South Brisbane? Were you the one on ZDNet who posted how costly his fibre plan was and therefore how bad the NBN was, only he wasn’t on the NBN, he was in South Brisbane on Telstra fibre.

  6. Wiseguy what about in 10 years when your copper has deteriorated to the point where you would be lucky to even get ADSL2+… there is going to come a time when line attenuation is so high that ADSL2+ won’t be available for anyone unless a large scale repair on most copper lines in the country. Which would cost nearly as much as fibre. Not to mention the 90% of people who don’t live 1.5KM from an exchange, or those like me whose copper loops around the neighbourhood before it gets to your house. We get abhorrent speeds and pay just as much as the lucky few who are close!

    I used to be one of the lucky few who were close and would sync 24000 daily, yet I moved and it turned out although I was about 1KM line of sight my copper weaved around my estate before my street was tacked on as an afterthought leaving me lucky to connect at 7000.

    Oh well, just as long as you have your temporary connection.

  7. The ISP’s all should be moving to unlimited downloads now, ready for the NBN and just have the subscribers pay for speed.

    During my time in North America, primarily Canada, I was blessed with unlimited downloads coming through my cable package. I just had to pay for speed. With TV and net I was paying $59 a month for basic cable and 50mbps speed.

    I thought this was a great way to get more people online and using the internet in all its glory.

    I see download quotas now like we were paying for internet in the 90’s, on a time basis.

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