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VHA pumps up mobile download quotas

Mobile telco VHA has more than doubled the data download quota included with most of its mobile phone capped plans offered by both its Vodafone and 3 brands, boosting limits by a gigabyte or more in some cases.
Written by Renai LeMay, Contributor

Mobile telco VHA has more than doubled the data download quota included with most of its mobile phone capped plans offered by both its Vodafone and 3 brands, boosting limits by a gigabyte or more in some cases.

For example, customers on VHA's AU$29 consumer capped plan used to have just 50MB of quota included; now they get 200MB. Those on an AU$49 plan now get 1.5GB, up from 50MB, while those on the AU$59 and AU$79 plans now receive 2GB of quota, up from 750MB and 1GB respectively. It's similar with VHA's business, combo, unlimited and month-to-month (SIM-only) plans.

"Vodafone and 3 customers now get a whole lot more for their money," said John Casey, VHA's director of marketing. "Our customers affinity with mobile internet and social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter is growing day by day, so we're meeting that demand by increasing the data in our caps."

Casey said Apple's iPhone 4 device was "very hot right now", and described the rival Android mobile operating system as "the next big thing in mobile phones".

VHA will also offer a promotional AU$59 plan, which includes an iPhone 4 or Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 handset for nothing upfront. The plan is effectively an AU$10 per month discount off the AU$69 plan as a special offer.

VHA's research shows that consumers are increasingly using mobile internet and 3G services. As at 30 June this year, 2.3 million Australians were using mobile broadband or 3G services on their handsets — a number up by 150.2 per cent compared with June 2009.

The news comes as last week the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) released a report that showed smartphones were expected to drive "significant future growth" in mobile communications and unlock "major opportunities" in Australia's digital economy.

"Digital technologies are really starting to have an enormous effect on the interactivity of individuals and organisations that now communicate using multiple forms of media in environments that are mobile, fast and virtual," ACMA chairman, Chris Chapman, said at the time.

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