Optus hands unlimited data for 24 hours to customers who pay AU$5

Singaporean-owned Australian telco Optus has unveiled a AU$5 add-on that will allow users to have 24 hours of unlimited data from the time that it is activated.

Optus said the unlimited domestic data would only be available to mobile phones, cover 3G, LTE, and 5G networks, and needs to be purchased from the My Optus app.

Customers that want multiple days of data bingeing will need to re-purchase once the 24-hour period expires, with the telco warning that if users buy the same data add-on while another is in effect, the early add-on will be forfeited.

Postpaid customers will receive an order confirmation and expiry notification, while prepaid customers will need to check via the app.

“This add-on gives customers the freedom to indulge when they want and the way they want to,” Optus managing director of marketing and revenue Matt Williams said.

“This may involve bingeing Netflix on high definition for 24 hours, which would normally go through 72GB of data.”

Last week, Optus announced it would be progressively switching on Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Wi-Fi calling for its mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) on its 4G network.

The telco previously only wholesaled data over 4G to MVNOs.

“We’re excited to be the first mobile network operator to offer our MVNO partners the benefits of VoLTE, which is available everywhere the Optus 4G network reaches,” managing director for wholesale, satellite, and strategy Ben White said.

“Wi-fi Calling is automatically provisioned with VoLTE and makes staying connected easier when mobile signal is limited and there is an available WiFi service. It is particularly useful indoors and solves the problem of coverage holes in areas where mobile signals can struggle to penetrate.”

At this stage, none of Optus’ MVNOs — which include the likes of Amaysim, Exetel, and Coles Mobile — have the capability enabled.

Also on Monday, TPG Telecom — the company formed by the merger of Vodafone Hutchison Australia and TPG — said in the coming months, it would start integrating the former TPG’s spectrum and small cells into the Vodafone network.

“From today, customers in Canberra will benefit from a 20% increase in capacity after we deploy additional 1800MHz spectrum to 99 sites, with deployments planned for other areas over coming weeks,” TPG Telecom CEO Iñaki Berroeta said.

“Today, we turn on small cells in the Melbourne CBD to improve performance in busy areas such as Collins Street and Docklands.”

TPG stopped rolling out its mobile network at the start of 2019, citing Australia’s ban on Huawei providing 5G equipment as the reason.

The telco said at the time that it had purchased equipment for 1,500 sites, as well as 900 fully or partially completed small cell sites. The network was 4G, but TPG planned to use the same Huawei equipment to be ready for 5G.

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Article source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/optus-hands-unlimited-data-for-24-hours-to-customers-who-pay-au5/#ftag=RSSbaffb68