Optus this morning announced it would offer naked DSL broadband plans, as well as broadband offerings provided on a "month-to-month" basis.
Optus is offering naked DSL plans with 7GB of download quota at $59.99 per month or $49.99 when bundled with an Optus mobile plan, although these plans are for a "limited time".
Naked DSL allows customers to access broadband without having to rent a traditional phone line, although it is often bundled with Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony, which runs over the broadband connection. ISPs such as Internode and iiNet were the first to offer the service in Australia, with iiNet adding 50,000 customers since the product's launch in November 2007.
Seeing this success, others have followed but up until now Optus, along with Telstra, did not offer the service.
When asked about whether it would offer naked plans mid last year, Optus said "We've always had a stand-alone broadband product on the [HFC] cable broadband offering." Yet now the carrier has decided to offer the stand-alone product in a broader sense.
Optus thought its naked product would rise above the pack by giving users the ability to bundle their mobile phone with their naked broadband service. "Unlike our competitors, Optus has the capability for customers to bundle their naked broadband with their mobile, providing real value and alternatives to manage their monthly spend," Michael Smith, acting managing director Optus consumer said in a statement.
The month-to-month broadband plans also announced today allow customers to sign up for broadband without a standard 24-month contract. Both naked broadband and month-to-month broadband would allow customers to pay for what they wanted and achieve savings in their budgets, Smith said.
Sadly, Optus has not taken the opportunity to really upset the apple cart with prices that are generally more expensive than iiNET and the rest.
And as is typical, they maintain their stance that data usage includes both uploads and downloads - most of the compeition does not charge for uploads.
Though there does not seem to the VoIP option that most other Naked DSL providers offer. This really makes Naked DSL sensible because you generally get free local and national calls so can do away with your landline and associated line rental costs.
Still, at least they are shaping excess data traffic with this service - some of their other broadband plans include excess data charges that would really take the shine off your monthly bill if you exceed your quota!!
And you can bundle Naked DSL with an Optus mobile phone, which might be useful for some customers.
So, overall it's a pretty lacklustre effort from a telco that seems determined not to differentiate themselves in anyway from the rest of the pack.