If you’re lucky enough to be in an area where the National Broadband Network has touched, Vodafone has now joined in on offers, and it has a really interesting Plan B.
Choices for the National Broadband Network really opened up this year when telco Amaysim joined the battle, providing low prices and solid bandwidth options for folks tiring of the standard service-to-price parity gouge, and instead looking for something different.
And now it looks like another telco is set to join in, again offering something a little different.
As promised earlier in the year, Vodafone is indeed planning on switching on its NBN access shortly and providing a new way to connect to the NBN regardless of how your home has been connected to the nation-wide network.
But before that happens, it’s talking up its Plan B, offering a way to connect to the NBN if something happens.
“Over the last year, we have spoken to many Australians about their internet experience to understand their concerns and needs,” said Matthew Lobb, General Manager of Fixed Broadband at Vodafone.
“They have told us that they don’t care about the kind of technology their internet runs on, they just want it to work,” he said.
With customer’s queries and criticisms of the NBN squarely in view, Vodafone has also introduced a neat little backup service, whereby if the line fails or the NBN is struggling, a pre-installed SIM in Vodafone’s Hub modem-router will allow Vodafone subscribers to connect to a 4G connection as a backup.
Granted, the connection will be limited to a 12Mbps/1Mbps connection, similar to other 4G home connections out there, but it will be a backup that will at least work, different to the fixed line connections that force you to wait with little in the way of turnaround time for expected repairs.
Meanwhile, the Vodafone WiFi Hub (above) will include one Gigabit Ethernet port, two Ethernet ports, one USB 2.0 port, and offer both 2.4 and 5GHz bands on an 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi router, with support for up to 32 devices simultaneously. Not exactly the cobra that we see from other companies, but still decent for quite a few homes, and the SIM will be installed the moment you take it out of the box, offering something few modem routers support.
“We wanted to make sure customers understand that the 4G back up service is a short term solution and that we intend to get customers back on to their NBN connection as soon as possible,” said Lobb to Pickr this week.
“Most faults are resolved in less than a few days but in the very rare circumstance that a NBN fault continues beyond 30 days and the customer is comfortable continuing to wait, we will continue to offer the 4G back service on a case by case basis.”
Vodafone still has yet to offer its plans, though it has said we should see them in the coming months. Here’s hoping it can stick to its promise by the end of this year.
