Optus has revealed today that they will be launching brand new unlimited mobile pricing plans, that will include unlimited calls (including video calls) and SMS/MMS, plus large data usage allowances.
Dubbed the ‘yes’ Timeless plans, they will also be available for iPhone purchasers too – but without the MMS, Push to Talk or video calling since the iPhone has not supported it (which I think its crap for not supporting it – I’m still thinking of getting one though).
The Pope has sent his first text message to thousands of World Youth Day pilgrims who had sign up to receive messages of divine "direction"; with Telstra erecting eight temporary base stations to allow pilgrims to send text messages to their friends and family.
Blitz Telecom, the owners of G-Node and Koala Telecom, is being reported to be in financial trouble and has been placed in administration earlier this month.
Director Umut Omer said in the Whirlpool forums that its primary investor recently withdrew his support and that he is working to "propose a Deed of Company Arrangement that would see creditors paid and the company come out of receivership".
IN BRIEF: Macquarie Telecom has extended its ADSL2+ network to over 250 exchanges.
Out of the exchanges, 100 will be based in Western Australia and Queensland – which Macquarie Telecom has said that they have been neglected by other telcos.
Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) is reported to be considering making its own bid to the Federal Government’s proposed $4.7 billion national boradband contract, putting it in competition with the Optus-led G9 Group.
Australian internet service provider iiNet has said that it would buy fellow Western Australian ISP Westnet for $81 million.
This will bring iiNet closer to the top two ISPs in Australia, in subscriber numbers; with 685,000 subscribers. Optus has one million subscribers, with Telstra having around 2.5 million.
As an election promise, Labor has said that they will have a better internal split of Telstra as a promise to revolutionize the telecommunications industry; hoping to end Telstra monopoly.
In an interview with The Australian, Opposition Communication spokesman Stephen Conroy described the current arrangements as “flawed”. “We’ll get rid of it and start again,” Senator Conroy said. “We’ll have a tougher operational separation regime. This has become a strong message that Labor will start getting tough with Telstra, who has a monopoly over the telecommunication lines as it is partly owned by the government (before, the government owned a majority). The funds after selling have become the Future Fund.
The G9 Group; consisting of AAPT, Internode, Optus, iiNet, Macquarie Internet, PowerTel, Primus, Soul and TransACT, have proposed for a FTTP [Fiber-to-the-Node] network. The pricing scheme will be around $24, with high speeds willl be about $45. Tax payers would not need to worry, as it will be financed by them. An Announcement by the ACCC will be made in a couple of weeks.