Telstra ADSL vs TransACT (was Re: TransACT@CLUG this month)

[Rasjid Wilcox]

On Tue, 6 Nov 2001 18:00, Eyal Lebedinsky wrote:
> In order to prepare for this interesting presentation I will now
> grab this thread slightly OT.
>
> This sounds very interesting. While 'net access looks very much more
> expensive through TransACT (compared to Telstra 512k/128k at 3GB) one can
> see the trend with Telstra:
> 	1 - they effectively discontinued the 256k/64k plan
> 	2 - they chose NOT to cap at 3GB so a user now runs a risk of
> 	up to $40/h if they forget a live connection (TV? game?) overnight
> 	3 - they introduces 1.5m/256k at 5/10GB which look more like what
> 	they wanted to charge in the first place. This put (2) at $120/h.
>
> From the above I am left with a sense that they think the old plans
> were costed too low (relative to what it costs them? relative to
> what they can charge?) and they want to push everyone into a $200+/mon
> plan.
>
> So, when the dust settles, one wonders how bad the TransACT plans will
> look, especially with the peering service, and maybe some decent
> internal
> caching setup (one hopes).
>

I have just done a spreadsheet for quick calculation on Telstra ADSL prices 
vs TransACT + WebOne prices.

I would prefer to post to individuals directly, so if you would like a copy 
please email me off list.

I can send it in either gnumeric format or XLS format.

Summary: If you have any desire for a fixed IP address, then TransACT + 
WebOne is way out in front, as there is no cheap Bigpond Direct option, 
whereas WebOne is currently charging an extra $11 per month for a fixed IP.

If you have no desire for a fixed IP, the Telstra may still be cheaper.  
However, their Residential Delux ADSL plan is seriously out of line with the 
rest of thier charges.  I expect that they want to charge between $120 to 
$140 per month for the 3GB plan.  Also, note that with the Residential plans 
they count both upload and download in the usage, although I believe you are 
not supposed to host anything anyway.

If it is possible to make use of the peer-to-peer thing and do some serious 
caching, then in my view TransACT is looking pretty good even if you don't 
want a fixed IP.

Rasjid.