The nation's number two telco Optus today said it would reduce its prepaid wireless broadband quotas as of 24 November, saying the former quotas were only an initial offer.
The quota for the $30 plan has been reduced to 1GB from 2GB, that for the $40 plan to 2GB from 3GB, that of the $50 plan to 3GB from 5GB, that of the $70 plan to 4GB from 6GB and that of the $100 plan to 6GB from 9GB.
The telco notified customers via its website of the changes as of yesterday, but they will also be receiving texts, a customer said, adding that the company will also be offering 15 per cent bonus data for those customers who recharge online.
The news came after Optus decided to suspend sales of Optus Wireless Fusion from 10 September amongst speculation that the company's mobile network had been overloaded. However, the two events were not related, according to a company spokesperson.
"It's nothing to do with that," they said. "Literally, we had some introductory offers."
Optus had said when it cancelled Fusion that it had acted "to ensure we deliver an optimum experience to our customers using the product", however rival Telstra subsequently stuck the boot in, claiming that Optus hadn't invested adequately in its network.
"Consumers are hungry for a 3G experience but some carriers, including SingTel Optus, operate partial 3G networks with vast areas where the iPhone for example has been reduced to 2G speeds or no coverage at all," Telstra's group managing director, public policy and communications, David Quilty said in a statement at the time.
The speculation on Fusion came after Optus suffered major mobile outages, followed by reports of network stress, especially around North Sydney, and the carrier being named as having the slowest speeds for the iPhone worldwide in a Wired survey.
I bought one and there was no mention of a limited time, only chose a prepaid because I didn't believe it was really as bad as everyone said and wanted to be able to get out just in case. I was going to leave once my limit expired and this just reassures me I am making the right decision!