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Broadband provider Internode has launched a new 3G wireless service.
Internode’sNodeMobile Data is a 3G wireless broadband data service that allows its customers to access the Internode network from more places in Australia.
The service is delivered via the Optus 3G wireless broadband network, is accessed by customers using a SIM card and a wireless data modem.
Internode has announced two NodeMobile Data plans: A 250-megabyte (MB) plan costing $14.95 a month and a three gigabyte (GB) plan for $39.95 a month. Unlike an Internode ADSL account, data quotas include both downstream and upstream data flows and there is no ‘unmetering’ or ‘shaping’ offered. An included SMS origination service costs 25 cents per message.
As an incentive for existing customers to use the new service, Internode is offering them a free USB wireless data modem, worth $199, if they sign up for a 24-month NodeMobile Data contract. The service is also offered as a SIM-only offering, to be used with a user-supplied compatible 3G device, for an establishment fee of $25 (including the SIM).
The service also provides customers with the ability to buy “data blocks” above their monthly quota at the effective rate of four cents per megabyte, much lower than typical market rates.
As well as allowing for occasional bursts of extra online activity, data blocks ensure that customers don’t receive any “nasty surprises” in the form of large post-billed excess data charges. Internode charges for data blocks are $10 for 250 MB; $20 for 500 MB; and $40 for 1 GB.
