[clug] Transact whinge, was "broadband ISPs in Canberra"

[Andrew Smith]

On Sat, 2004-09-25 at 14:24, Kim Holburn wrote:
> TransACT with their VDSL is trying to compete against ADSL which is a 
> much cheaper technology when they could offer 55Mb to the home.

This would have to be my biggest gripe with the Transact offerings.  Why
do they insist on competing eye-for-eye with Telstra's products, when
they could breeze in and guzump them with "the most advanced network in
the world."  I'm sure this is the work of brainless marketeers.  Why not
offer 2M symmetric?  Where's the competition in that?  The network
apparently has the capacity.  Why would I pay $70/month for a 2M/256k
bare service (plus ISP), when the equivalent Telstra 1.5M/256k service
is bundled with an ISP charge for around $38/month?

I work closely with several customers who have Transact's Virtual Router
(ISP) product.  Incredibly, Transact even follow the Telstra delivery
model there, including rate-based charging for bandwidth into the ERX
for telehoused customers, in the _same_ premises a floor apart.  It's
understandable for Telstra to do that, they generally have to drive the
ATM carried service greater distances than the same building, although a
pricing change there would be nice too.

I can get FTA digital TV with a $300 STB, I get the same phone/isdn
service and broadband speeds on my 30yr old phone lines, why would I
switch?

</gripe>

Andrew