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newsTelstra $69 byo endless data mobile plan
There is a revolution happening here in Australia. Two of the major telcos have released "endless data" plans for mobile phones.
Apparently, there are such plans in some other countries. but this is a first for Australia.
Vodafone's endless plan is $60 per month, you get 40GB, beyond which
it is shaped, that is, restricted, to 1.5mb/sec (mega-bits per second,
which is about 150 kilobytes/sec):
https://www.vodafone.com.au/plans/unlimited
It also includes 2000 minutes of international calls to selected countries.
This is a much better deal than Telstra, however, you do have to be in an area with a Vodafone tower not too far away.
Telstra has much better coverage in rural areas, which is one reason
that they can get away with charging more. For example in one country
town, Dumbleyung, Vodafone and Optus only have 3G coverage, Telstra has
4G.
The Telstra deal is also 40GB per month, tapered to 1.5mb/sec, but
costs $69 per month. Also, there is no free international minutes:
https://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/plans-and-rates/byo-unlimited-mobile-data-plan
I have signed up with Telstra for 12 months.
Already I have tested it on a country trip, and got continuous coverage throughout the trip.
One issue with Telstra, they use the 4G 700MHz band (B28) in most
rural areas, and only one of my phones has it. Unfortunately, my
favourite phone, my LG Nexus 5, does not have 700MHz.
Yes, the Telstra endless-data plan does allow tethering.
One website that I found to be extremely helpful is this, as it enabled me to determine what frequencies the telcos were transmitting on at various rural locations:
https://oztowers.com.au/
Whistleout has excellent overage maps, that easily compare the three telcos. For example, looking at the small town of Dumbleyung:
https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones/Search?calls=10&sms=50&data=500&customer=Personal&address=Dumbleyung,+WA+6350&tab=postpaid
...scroll down to see the map.
Tags: tech