Post Paid HSPA Plan Inclusions

With each Exetel Post Paid HSPA plan you also get the following additional facilities:

10 email addresses in the form of - yourname@exemail.com.au
200megabytes of user web space
A permanent IP address (with the ability to change it if you wish to do so at any time)
Usage meters for your HSPA and any other Exetel service you choose to use
A comprehensive User Facility that allows you to manage every aspect of every Exetel service

Exetel HSPA Broadband Services (05/05/09)

What is HSPA?

HSPA or High-Speed Packet Access is the technical term for “mobile broadband”. It means you don’t need a physical line to connect to the internet or email as it connects over the airwaves. You will still need a connection medium and you can do this via:

A USB stick which connects to your laptop or PC

The Exetel HSPA service requires the use of an Optus supplied 'sim' plus a USB device to connect the 'sim' to the Optus/Exetel network. Exetel provides both the 'sim' and the necessary USB device for a once only charge of $145.00. If you already have a suitable ‘modem’ then you can buy the sim only for a once only charge of $25.00 including delivery.

A 3G mobile handset

If you have a mobile telephone handset (such as an Apple iPhone or one of the many other 3G mobile handsets) you wish to connect to the Exetel/Optus HSPA service, and are confident in your technical abilities to ensure this works, there is no need to use a USB device and the only once only charge is $25.00 for the supply of the required 'sim'.
A list of compatible mobile handsets can be found by clicking the side bar link 'Compatibility List' that can be found on the left hand side of this page.

HSPA Network

Exetel provides HSPA services using the Optus mobile network. The current maps of all parts of Australia can be found by clicking on the 'Coverage Maps' (sidebar link on the left hand side of this page). However, you must also take into account that with our country broadband program you may still receive coverage in areas that do not appear available & you may have even experienced no coverage as we can supply & install an external antenna providing much greater than normal coverage. To confirm coverage plese contact us with the link on the left.

HSPA Service Speeds

While the theoretical speed possible is 7.2 mbps down, speeds are dependent on many factors but it is likely that most users will get practical download speeds of 2 mbps - 2.5 mbps in a location with 'perfect' conditions. Many Exetel/Optus HSPA users are experiencing speeds greater than these, 4.5 mbps in North Sydney for instance. These speeds will become more common and more widespread as Optus progressively upgrades the network to 7.2 mbps down and over 1 mbps up across Australia.

Advantages of HSPA

As a mobile data service

You can travel anywhere within coverage and have constant access to the internet and email. Exetel's HSPA via Optus service is an ideal mobile data service that combines Optus' wide geographic coverage with Exetel's industry leading very low pay for what you use data rates. With no contract and no 'included usage' plans a person who needs access to the internet via their laptop in different geographic locations at the lowest possible cost will find it difficult to beat an Optus/Exetel HSPA service.

As a dial up internet replacement Service

Exetel's HSPA via Optus service is an ideal replacement for a dial up internet service offering much higher speeds (subject to location) and, for people who download less than 1 gigabyte a month (practically all dial up users) Exetel’s HSPA service is almost certainly going to be lower cost than a current dial up service with the additional advantage of no dial up telephone call costs and, if required, no telephone line rental charge.

As an ADSL replacement/substitute service

The major advantage of HSPA is that it requires no telephone line rental and a customer is charged, in Exetel's case, only for the actual data transmitted plus a small monthly service fee.
However, the downloads are expensive compared to Exetel's, and other ISPs ADSL plans at levels above 1 gigabyte a month of usage and therefore HSPA, at least at this time in its development is not suitable for people who want large downloads (it definitely is NOT suitable for people who use P2P) or who want to play low latency sensitive games.
For a customer who wants a broadband internet service for browsing, email and limited file downloading with total monthly downloads and uploads of less than 1,000 megabytes (approximately 50% of all users of Exetel's ADSL broadband services) then it is a very low cost service (less than $20.00 a month) that has the ability to further lower a households communication costs via VoIP (which requires no telephone line and which provides Australia wide wire line calls at 10 cents per call).

Further…

For first hand views of speeds and how VoIP and various games perform and to ask specific questions you might like to join the discussions here:

http://forum.exetel.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=308&t=28354