1TB plans are simply a headline seeking announcement: Exetel

Exetel boss, John Linton, has dismissed the new plans by iiNet and Primus

Exetel chief executive, John Linton, has dismissed hefty new plans from fellow internet service providers (ISPs) iiNet and Primus Telecom arguing that they are more about marketing than sustainable business.

Linton told Computerworld Australia that the company would not be following in the footsteps of the two ISPs in offering capped download quotas of one terabyte (TB) and above.

“There is no demand for a plan of that download magnitude and the price quoted would not cover the costs," Linton said.

Linton said he doubted whether "one thousandth of one per cent" of current users would actually download such an amount, and that any customer who did so, would cost their ISP "a great deal of money".

"No ISP, including iiNet, would want a customer that downloaded a terabyte for $100.00," he said. "[One terabyte plans are] simply a headline seeking announcement."

The Exetel chief rejected claims from iiNet chief executive, Michael Malone, who described ‘unlimited’ plans from the likes of Optus and AAPT, as “unsustainable”.

Linton said the claim was “odd” given that iiNet had just announced its one terabyte download plan, implying the 1TB worth of downloads was almost the equivalent of an 'unlimited' plan.

iiNet unveiled its new 1TB plans yesterday, to which Primus promptly responded, going one better with 1.1TB download quotas.

Primus chief executive, Ravi Bhatia told Computerworld Australia that the motivation behind the new offering was to signal to competitors, specifically iiNet, that it was ready to compete ‘vigorously’.

An Optus spokesperson would not comment directly on whether it planned to introduce a 1TB plan, but said its current market offering already include plans with "generous data allowances."

"We are always evaluating our broadband offers in response to customer demand," the spokesperson said.

Internode was also contacted for comment but had not responded by the time of publishing.

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