Optus’ new home wireless broadband plans increase data inclusions
If you can’t get NBN at your place yet, Optus would like you to consider wireless broadband with new 200GB plans.
The current range of Optus Home Wireless plans use Optus’ 4G network to deliver broadband with a single 50GB data inclusion, but from Monday if you sign up for a 12 or 24 month plan, that data inclusion will quadruple to a very healthy 200GB for the entirety of your contract period.
The new plans do entail a slight price uptick in return for all that tasty data, however. If you signed up before 5 September, Optus would charge you $70 per month on either a month-to-month or 24 month basis for that 50GB of data. On the month-to-month tier you’d also have to spend $240 upfront for the Home Wireless Broadband modem, which is bundled free with a 24 month contract. If you opt for a 12 month contract, there’s a $10/month hardware payment on top of that $70 monthly charge.
From Monday, however, Optus’ Home Wireless Plans will cost $80 per month for month-to-month or 24 month customers, or $90 per month if you opt for a 12 month contract, taking that $10 monthly hardware cost into consideration.
If you’re also an Optus mobile customer spending $30 per month or more on a postpaid contract, Optus will slice the price down for a Home Wireless Plan by $20 per month. All plans include an excess data provision for $10 for 10GB of data, which is quite a bit cheaper than the almost standard $10/GB data you’d pay for a genuinely mobile product. Then again, unless you own a very long extension cable, you can’t take the Home Wireless Broadband service with you, and Optus rather specifically speed limits Home Wireless Broadband connections to a maximum of 12/1Mbps in areas with 2300Mhz coverage and just 5/1Mbps if you’re in an area without 2300Mhz coverage. Otherwise, you can compare Optus' wide range of broadband services for ADSL, Cable and NBN customers using our comparison engine.
Here’s how the new and old Home Wireless Broadband plans compare:
| Optus Home Wireless Broadband | Monthly Cost | Monthly cost (Optus Postpaid mobile customer) | Upfront Cost | Included Data | Minimum total cost (no discount) | Minimum total cost (Optus discount) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month to month pre 5/9/2016 | $70 | N/A | $240 | 50GB | $310 | N/A |
| Month to month post 5/9/2016 | $80 | $60 | $240 | 50GB | $320 | $300 |
| 12 Month contract pre 5/9/2016 | $80 | N/A | $0 | 50GB | $960 | N/A |
| 12 Month contract post 5/9/2016 | $90 | $70 | $0 | 200GB | $1,080 | $840 |
| 24 Month contract pre 5/9/2016 | $70 | N/A | $0 | 200GB | $1,680 | N/A |
| 24 Month contract post 5/9/2016 | $80 | $60 | $0 | 200GB | $1,920 | $1,440 |
