Monday, February 15. 2010AAPT Takes The Next Step.....John Linton ....but still has steps to go before 'reforming' the Australian broadband experience. I stated my admiration for AAPT's new offerings last year when they introduced the 12 hour unlimited period and commented that it would only be a matter of time before they introduced a 24 hour unlimited offering. So today's: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/no-cap-on-broadband-downloads/story-e6freuy9-1225830271942 announcement (or was it yesterday's? - I'm in Singapore and my times are offset by three hours) is unsurprising in the highly competitive ADSL marketplace that is reality now and for the foreseeable future. As I commented before their were two major turnoffs in the 12 hour offerings - the 5 gb 'peak time' limit and the price. In this step forward AAPT has removed one major limit but have still priced the offering far too high for it to actually blow the market apart - but then there are many steps in a 'revolution' and you can seldom change a commercial market with your personal "Bastille Day". You would have to think that AAPT's planners have looked at the success (or if you're very cynical) lack of success of the 12 hour unlimited plans and adjusted those plans to the new offers based on their experience to date so they would have addressed what they saw as holding back even higher take up than they previously achieved. Unlike any other company except Telstra and Optus they have far more 'off peak' capacity than any other provider in Australia. How this might affect their 'peak' capacity is also something only they know and no-one else can guess at. So - the price point. Not really that exciting I wouldn't have thought and, based on my own very limited knowledge and experience, it isn't going to be a market breaker. I actually do understand that the concept of "unlimited downloads" is a powerful phrase - but just what market demographic it appeals to is not clear to me - my guess would be less than 1% of the approximately 6 million current buyers....around 60,000 end users who actually no ISP wants as customers, even at $100.00 per connection and even at AAPT's internal costs this plan will almost certainly run at a loss for that 1% of users. But, of course, I don't have access to AAPT's actual usage figures for their current plans so they may well have facts that show that my assumption isn't correct. My view of the ADSL residential market is that once you charge more than $A40.00 a month for ADSL the market becomes 'resistant' with $A50.00 a month the maximum for any acceptance - beyond $A50.00 the market fades away to tiny percentages which are fine in today's markets but are almost not going to be fine as 2010 wears on. Of course, I could be totally wrong and AAPT's announced new pricing could be exactly correct. They do have a great scenario with their network configured for massive day time use that dwindles to almost total idleness in the 'off peak' period and an owner (NZTel) with a 50% share in SX. There is also their 15% or so shareholding in iinet and the constant rumours that NZTel are looking to buy out Amcom that would be a precursor to buying out iinet which would provide an interesting set of marketing opportunities. But, and it has to be a but, how many users actually will buy an internet service for $100.00 a month in Australia in early 2010? Not that many when there are unlimited ADSL1 plans available already (despite the Telegraph's head line) and there are significant price/download changes coming from Telstra and Optus in the almost immediate future. Irrespective of the price, which can be changed at any time, AAPT has set the benchmark for 'download limits' in Australia and the price for that 'standard' will remain a benchmark as 2010 progresses - unless the 60,000 users who consider 300 gbytes to be a minimum requirement all flock to AAPT - in which case some rethinking may be required. PS: It's nice to be back in Singapore even for a brief stop over to follow up a contact and get a first hand idea of what is going on around the region. It is, as always, so much more impressive than any Australian city in its cleanliness and unbelievable levels of efficiency that we can only dream about in Australia. Trackbacks
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"THE dream of unlimited broadband downloads is a reality for internet users with the introduction today of Australia's first truly no-limit plan."
Strange, I thought Telstra had a "truly no-limit plan" for years, although it is a "business" plan. http://www.telstrabusiness.com/business/portal/online/site/productsservices/telstrabusinessbroadbandadsl.10837 Naturally, it's three times the price of any other provider. Comments (3)
Remember the price stated includes line rental, so that can be seen as a 'discount' in some regards.
The included music (although of a limited mix) will also appeal to some. All in all it is a compelling offer, atleast from my perspective as someone who downloads a decent amount, games online and likes music. Pity I chose not to live in an overpriced area and therefore do not get ADSL2+ (2 streets away and I could apparently.) Comment (1)
As VoIP increases (bearing in mind Telstra's half year report said there was a 6.9% decline in active wire lines over the six month period), wire line rental will be increasingly irrelevant.
So right now it is a sensible 'saving' to make but less so as the year passes. I agree that it is a game breaking new offer but I think it is too expensive. Comments (7)
There is another important part to the AAPT announcement. That is the deal with Music streaming and downloading.
I am very interested in how this plan will affect other ISP plans in the future. If customers can stream music at any time without breaching copyright or sending their download limits into the red, there now is less of temptation to illegally download that music. On top of the ability to stream music to your PC, there is also a $50 allowance built in to legally download music that can be played on a MP3 player or played back later etc. How much will a $50 music downloads per month releatically add to the monthly internet bill? Would it actually be cheaper to buy a download voucher and use it only when you need it? Comment (1)
I didn't see the music concept as 'universally' appealing - but you may well be right.
Comments (7)
It is not all that appealing to me either, but it (arguably) signals one attempt of a music copyright holder, to make their music more accessible by building it into a broadband plan ("Unlimited music streaming" AND "$50 of Music downloads each Month"), post the failed attempt through the courts to make ISP's responsible for illegal downloads.
Or is it just a co-incidence that this plan should eventuate now! Comments (5)
Ah. It is $50/month music from EMI. Looks like they are using it as a marketing device, perhaps for parents and school kids?
Here's a link to the AAPT 'subsite' for the plan: http://www.aapt-broadband.com.au/unlimited-broadband-music-downloads/home Comments (3)
That was the first thing I noticed when I also visited Singapore. It's a Utopia of wonderful efficiency and a little reminder that the human race still has hope.
Comment (1)
$50 worth of music each month is a great way to 'condition' users to 'buy' music online.
No doubt AAPT hopes that users will continue to purchase music over and above the $50 limit. I wonder if TPG will be the next to follow , given that they are already advertising their 120GB plan as 'unlimited'. Comments (2)
Hi JL,
Do you remember Koala, Blitz and Wild? I'm pretty sure they offered unlimited ADSL2+ as well. Actually if I remember correctly I was with Koala then Blitz when they offered the unlimited ADSL2+ and they didn't have the network to handle the amount of people downloading stupid amounts every month and subsequently limited every person to 300KB/s otherwise their network would have been in a lot of trouble. (Fair enough that Koala/Blitz ,and probably Wild, weren't big companies like AAPT) Now, I'm no network expert but these sorts of plans don't seem to be any good for any Australian ISP and I was wondering what you think would be an estimated time before AAPT realise this and get rid of this plan? Comment (1)
I think AAPT have got a lot of network capacity and six months experience to base their decisions on.
Comments (7)
Yes, I'm sure AAPT have huge amounts of bandwidth at their disposal, caching techniques to minimise external transit and, the fact that they are charging $99.95/mth including line-rental and a $50 music voucher each month will probably attract people who don't download 100's of GB per month (in addition to the people that do).
Comment (1)
I would be very interested to see the nature of the agreement between the Gang of Four. It's unlikely that residential growth will see AAPT be a greater source of traffic for the other three members, but the other members would most definitely see a greater amount of AAPT traffic being sourced from their networks.
Comments (2)
Importand question is :
Will Exetel offer unlimited plans ? Comments (5)
AAPT were my first ISP and my experiences with them were excellent, it just took them too long to start offering decent quotas.
If there was a PowerTel DSLAM at my exchange, I'd be signing up already. The only available ADSL2+ ports around here are through Telstra and even through resellers, the quota per dollar is just not worth the extra speed. Comment (1)
I'm currently on a 60/70gb plan with Exetel and contract expires in 2 months, I rarely hit my quota these days, sometimes come close to the off-peak allowed. However I will be going with AAPT as I'm currently paying $80 with Phone Service, so for an extra $20 per month, I get UNLIMITED & $50 Music for the family, nice!
Yes, it's on the expensive side, however the value is too good to refuse. Exetel have been an excellent IP, I will leave will no reason not to come back in the future if I see it as value. Comments (5)
Not a bad idea, however if I drop down a notch, I'll take off $10 and get 30GB Peak less than current. Sure I don't always hit my quota these days, however with 30GB Peak, I'm sure to go over that.
By far, the best value for money in this price range $80-$100 is clearly AAPT and I never have to worry about quota again and get the bonus $50 Music bundle. I think AAPT have got it right and have started 2010 with the right deal, I just hope things don't get too congested over there. Comments (5)
No issue, aside from AAPT offering a relaxed downloading environment without stress if I do decide to download more than my quota in any given month along with a $50 music carrot.
Don't get me wrong, Exetel service and value is very good, it's just at my price point, I can get much more value for just a $20 premium. Comments (5)
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