The wireless vendors Unwired is literally throwing data at wireless users, with a whopping 10GB for $39.95. A data war seems to be brewing in the battle of the wireless broadband.
Unwired's plans even put 3's highly impressive 6GB for $39 plans in the shade, which is no mean feat considering the 3 plan was arguably Australia's best wireless broadband deal.
How Unwired's 10GB plan stacks up
For $39.95 you get 10GB with Unwired, or for $29.95 6GB, which is $10 less than the previously mentioned 3 deal. Unwired also has a gigantic 16GB on offer for $49.95.
Unwired vs 3
The Unwired plans are also contract free, another aspect of wireless deals we're pleased to see becoming more widespread. 3's 6GB deal, while offering excellent value against the competition, is actually a 24-month contract offer. If you want the 6GB with 3 without the contract you'll have to stump up $49.
Unwired vs Optus
Optus is a similar story - the advertised deals sounds great, but are sometimes bundled - you need to have an Optus mobile or home phone plan to get the good price. Bundled pricing gives you 5GB for $39.99, but standalone (no bundle) you pay $49.99 for the same data.
Until now Unwired had fallen off our wireless radar, faced with ever increasing data caps from big 3G mobile phone carriers.
Suddenly Unwired looks like it's the king of wireless data quotas.
Unwired, pros and cons
The advantages with Unwired at this stage are big data caps, month to month pricing, and in Unwired's view, long off-peak times.
The big question marks are Unwired's coverage (this isn't a nationwide mobile network, but then neither is 3's 3G mobile wireless broadband, yet).
The other is speed. Unwired advertises 256/64K on its entry level plans - that's hardly fast compared with ADSL2+, but then neither is most wireless broadband. 3's fine print says you'll get anywhere from 600kbps to 1.5Mbps. Telstra is the king for speed.