The research company has calculated that if usage caps are exceeded the average 650 MB movie would cost between AU$71.50 and AU$117.00 in download costs. Shara Evans, Telsyte's managing director, said the example illustrated why it was important for consumers to understand their usage patterns before signing up to a specific plan. She described the array of broadband pricing plans as "confusing", and noted most plans have usage charges, although some offer unlimited downloads at certain times.
"No one in their right mind would knowingly pay AU$117 to watch a movie," said Evans. "This chart shows how usage fees can have a detrimental impact on the take-up of value-added services such as online movie rental/purchase, Pay TV and other applications that involve large files."
Dean Morrison, general manager of Wired Entertainment, a digital media infrastructure delivery company told ZDNet Australia the restrictions on broadband downloads is stifling the growth of online media entertainment providers. "The broadband regime in Australia is a disincentive to digital media," he said.
Wired Entertainment currently delivers digital music from record companies to online retailers, and Morrison said even the relatively small music files used a lot of bandwidth with the numbers that consumers want to download. He said Wired Entertainment would like to deliver other digital media, but movies were not possible in the current climate.
"If there was something viable we would definitely consider getting into the market," said Morrison. "We're primed to deliver that service because we have the infrastructure, what's stopping us is the broadband restrictions. It's just not economical at this stage."
A spokesperson for Telstra told ZDNet Australia that it did not currently offer movies that do not count towards downloads, as it does with online computer games, but that these things are always under review.
"You also have to look at the cost effectiveness," he said. "What you've got to look at is you can go to a video store and hire a movie for AU$5, so there are a number of things that need to be considered."
Evans said that Australia appears to be one of the few countries that imposes usages charges for broadband Internet access, adding "In order to stay competitive on the global market, we need to ensure that our broadband pricing plans are roughly comparable to overseas markets."
Despite this, Telsyte research indicated Australian DSL uptake was 33 percent higher by the end of August than it was at the end of June, with 44,000 new DSL lines bringing the total installed to 178,000.
Situation normal!. The greedy Telcos kill the market potential of Broadband, with the restrictive pricing and download caps. There is no competition because T(H)elstra controls the overpriced wholesale pricing, sets the benchmark for retail pricing and they all play follow the leader.
I repeat...100% of nothing is NOTHING. Get the picture you morons.