Earlier this year Optus announced that they would no longer count data from streaming music services for all Pre-Paid customers. At the time it was strange to not see this be extended to Post-Paid customers as well but now that has changed. Starting yesterday customers with an eligible plan can now only enjoy the same data-free streaming of music that their Pre-Paid counterparts enjoy as well as streaming Netflix and Presto without it counting against their plan’s data.
Customers with a $100 a month and above plan will now be able to stream all the Netflix and Presto they want without it eating into their precious data allowance. Those with plans less than $100 a month can fork over an extra $10 a month for the same mobile TV streaming privilege. That means that someone on a $40 a month plan can pay $50 a month and receive unlimited streaming of Netflix, Presto, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio and Google Play Music (assuming they already have accounts and subscriptions with these providers) — subscriptions are not included in the package.
With Optus continuing to review their streaming services more may be added in the future.
At this stage the Mobile TV streaming is not available on Post-Paid mobile SIM only or mobile broadband SIM Only plans. In a turn around the Mobile TV package is not available on Pre-Paid plans either.
Tim Cowan, Head of Mobile Marketing at Optus said
Our customers tell us they want the freedom to watch the latest TV show or listen to their favourite band, on the go. But we know that fear of using too much data is the biggest obstacle to making mobile streaming part of their daily entertainment habits.
Existing, eligible customers will need to activate the package before enjoying the data-free Mobile TV and those without an eligible plan will have to move to one that is or add on the Mobile TV package to their current plan.
On their FAQ page Optus also say (in an around-about way) that tethering your phone’s data to your tablet/laptop etc will also result in data free Mobile TV:
For the best viewing experience we recommend you use the Netflix and Presto mobile and tablet apps and set the video quality to “Auto”. If you use a web browser to stream TV shows and movies from Netflix and Presto, this will still be data free.
Of course there is a catch, as there always is: you cannot stream Mobile TV in high definition on the data free Mobile TV package. To stream HD you will need to remove the data free Mobile TV streaming package. Video from Netflix and Presto will be streamed in standard definition up to 1.5Mbps. Of course using a VPN will also negate the data free as well as it cannot detect your streaming traffic.
Anyone excited about this? Will it make anyone switch to Optus so that they can receive this?
We’re witnessing a really worrying trend. What we’re seeing here is the slow death of net neutrality that has been debated so heavily in the US. If we start seeing carriers picking winners for unmetered services we’re only going to see the little guys completely squeezed out of the market. It’s anti-competitive and anti-consumer. It’s already near impossible for a music streaming service to enter the market in these cut throat times. With carriers giving the industry leaders a leg up this will only make it harder. The principle that the internet is a utility like water or electricity is… Read more »
I have always been curious whether the premier league actually used allocated data or whether it is cap-free. I could obviously dig through Optus’s T&Cs but if anyone has knowledge handy would appreciate the share.
The music streaming is limited to 512kbps, not sure if that’s gonna be noticeable or not…
Streaming uses at most 256kbps for me so I’m quite happy with 512. This is on Spotify which I’ve left on automatic quality for streaming quality.
I don’t get the free tv on my current plan, but I do get the free streaming music. Which is what I care about, so I’m pretty happy.
It sounds pretty good but I wish it included YouTube videos as well. Scott, any chance you can contact Optus and organise that? A lot more people might switch if it did.
heh quota free YouTube. What is Optus becoming? T-mobile?
You know when I had my HTC Magic I was on a plan that had free Social (FB/Tw) and… free YouTube! I had a look and it was with Virgin.