More Unlimited Internet?

Recently, TPG announced on Whirlpool in this thread that they would be offering an unlimited ADSL2+ broadband product for $75 a month with no shaping, time limits or time restrictions. This was followed by the finalisation of the acquisition of Pipe Networks by TPG for AU$373 million.

It wasn’t too long ago that AAPT launched their own unlimited plan (including home phone and a monthly quota of downloadable music up to a fixed value). Could this perhaps be a defensive move by TPG to prevent churn in its user base?

Now, I have been with TPG for just under three years after having used Telstra BigPond Cable for a couple of years beforehand. I found BigPond to be behind the pace with its offered speeds and quotas (which may have been refreshed once or perhaps twice a year) and decided to move to greener pastures. David, a friend of mine, said that if you have to worry about you download then you need a larger quota.

I agree whole-heartedly.

At the moment I am on a 150GB plan (40GB peak and 110GB off peak) and whilst I don’t use it all every month, I wouldn’t mind being able to download Steam games during the day when I want to play them rather than mucking around with scheduled tasks in Windows to try and get them to download in the off-peak. I’m not looking to abuse the heck out of an unlimited plan but that’s not to say that there won’t be others that would not.

I guess the benefit of the TPG offering over that from AAPT is that it isn’t forcibly bundled with a telephone service and other bells in whistles. I’m sure that there are some people that might find that appealing and that’s their prerogative. Personally, I just want the pipe and this is exactly what TPG delivers.

It’s still early days for AAPT and their unlimited offering but TPG is not shy to offer large quotas (200GB is the maximum on residential plans). Again, time will tell if this is a wise move on either part or a desperate attempt to maintain market share in an increasingly competitive environment. At any rate, I am giving a plan change some serious consideration.