[LINK] NBN retail costs

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

It seems to me, unfortunately, it's very possible, that our NBN could
price itself out of consideration, for lots of Aussie broadband users.

For eg: <http://broadbandguide.com.au/virgin-mobile/plan/1237-5127-mobile-
broadband-1.5gb--usb-modem>

The above is virtually-anywhere wireless broadband, and with a free USB
modem, no set up fees, the Optus 3G/HSPA (Dual Band) Network, and 1.5GB
of monthly shaped data, with no excess usage charges, *for $19 a month* 

Or for $14 a month when it's bundled with a post-paid mobile phone plan.

Sure, it's 1.5G. But as some linkers know, i own and manage an FM radio
station within our 12 station network. (And, now cover most of Northern
Victoria). Within our network, we relay our signal from the studio with
the best DJ, and MP3 music around six hours every day and 7 days a week.

In other words we stream audio for 42 hours a week between our stations.
And none of us have ever gone over 1.5G / month. So, for normal MP3 use
six hours a day around home, in our experience 1.5G broadband is plenty.

So, 3G broadband that's *mobile* with sufficient data, for dialup costs.

That's $228 (or $168) a year, for mobile broadband, vrs $720+ fixed NBN?

Perhaps somewhat of a no-brainer, unless NBN Co will lower access costs?

Cheers,
Stephen