Compare the Optus Mobile Broadband BYO 60 Plan

Internet service provider (ISP), Optus, is the second largest operator in Australia, second only to the giant Telstra corporation. Both are private companies but the main difference is that Telstra was previously government owned before being privatised. This meant that it inherited the Australia wide copper wire telephone communication network that all other ISPs had to purchase usage from before they could resell it to their own customers. When Optus arrived on the scene it immediately began building its own network in the major Australian metropolitan areas. A network  it still owns to this day, but they found it uneconomical to expand into the rural areas. The network in these areas is still owned and maintained by Telstra who continue to sell its usage to other ISPs like Optus, who in turn have to resell it to their clients.

These arrangements are to change soon when the Federal Government completes the new fibre optic National Broadband Network roll-out across the entire nation. When completed the NBN, a government owned body, will own the entire super fast network and all ISPs will be buying usage off NBN for the same price. In the meantime a lot of work is being done on improving the speed of downloading data via mobile internet services. Optus has stayed among the frontrunners in this field and as a result have come up with plans such as the Optus Mobile Broadband BYO 60 Plan.

The Optus Mobile Broadband BYO 60 Plan

This particular mobile broadband plan is no doubt real life internet on the go. It comes with an Optus standard SIM card and is applicable to any Optus approved compatible device. Best of all, there is no long term contract to enter into, as it is purely a month by month plan. If you don’t need the service for any monthly period coming up all you need do is to notify Optus of your intentions the month beforehand. The cost of this plan is only $60 a month, the same price as the actual contract. There is no start up fee to come up with and you will be able to download 8 GB of data each monthly period. It also comes with a BYO internet key.

The Optus mobile broadband BYO 60 plan works on the Optus 3G mobile broadband. This is the same band it uses to send signals to its mobile phone customers. 3G is simply the third stage of this kind of technology. As you are reading this, the next stage, 4G, is being utilised in Australia. This is the fourth generation of wireless technology and it will be able to deliver speeds equal to fixed line broadband. The higher speeds of the new 4G technology should also go a long way in easing congestion across the whole mobile broadband network. It is hoped it will see the finish of peak and non peak periods of mobile internet usage. The speeds commonly obtained with 3G average around 300 Kbps to 3Mbps. Speeds are usually slower in rural areas where it is more common to experience download speeds of  between 20 and 30Kbps

When you receive your Optus mobile broadband BYO 60 plan package you will receive a SIM card that plugs into the USB port of your computer, it works in the same way as does the SIM card on your mobile phone. The SIM card will be contained inside a dongle, or stick.

The Optus Mobile Broadband BYO 60 Plan Download Limit

This particular Optus mobile broadband plan comes with 8 GB of data downloading capability each month. This is quite a generous amount when you consider that GB is actually only a shortening of gigabyte. To put this into proper perspective there are 1,024 megabytes in a gigabyte, 1,024 kilobytes in a megabyte and 1,024 bytes in a kilobyte. This means a small file on a notebook will contain a number of bytes, a word document would more likely be measured in kilobytes, a music file in megabytes and a DVD movie would be measured in gigabytes. All you need do now is to get your calculator out and you will see how much 8 GB really is.

Advantages of Having an Optus Mobile Broadband BYO 60 Plan

Some of the more obvious advantages of having this Optus mobile broadband plan include the following:

• Like your mobile phone, you will be free of having to pay any landline telephone charges when you are not using your computer online.
• Internet access will be available to you in places where there are no landline telephones, or other high speed internet connections. If your mobile phone has a signal, you will also be able to go online on your laptop. You will however need to have a 3G network operating in the locality, otherwise you might be successful in making phone calls but my not be able to browse the internet. Where there is no 3G connection you will have restricted access via 2G.
• There is no set up cost involved. Everything is quite simple and it is very easy to get started virtually immediately you finish signing the necessary papers.
• You can use it when you are on the go. You will have access to the internet when away from home, even when you are on holidays. The only restriction will be your access to the 3G network.