New Telecom Xtra Jetstream Plans From $49.95/Month

New Telecom Xtra Jetstream Plans Priced From $49.95 A Month

Broadband will be more affordable with the launch on Monday of three new Telecom Xtra JetStream plans starting at a low monthly rental of just $49.95 ($11.53 a week).

The new plans will provide customers with a choice of megabyte (MB) usage allowances of 500 MB, 1000 MB and 2000 MB a month, and download and upload speeds of up to 256 kilobits per second (kbps).

As well, Xtra's Home 500 and Home 1000 plans, which operate at download speeds up to 2 MBs per second, are being reduced in price by $10 a month.

Telecom Xtra is also launching a range of new features to make JetStream easier to install and manage, and a dedicated broadband channel on Xtra, to provide a greater range of content for users, including local short films, news and music.

Chris Thompson, Telecom's Head of Internet and Online Marketing, said the new choice of plans would provide New Zealand households with a greater range of affordable broadband options to meet their usage needs.

"Research into the usage of our JetStream Starter customers shows that almost half use less than 500 MBs a month and more than three quarters use less than 2000 MBs a month. This is despite having access to up to 5000 MBs of international usage as part of their plan allowance," Mr Thompson said.

"These new plans reflect the needs of the majority of households by providing a mix of megabyte allowances and speed, at competitive pricing, for those considering upgrading from dial-up."

"It means that for less than the price of a couple of pizzas or a new CD a month, households can move from dial-up to JetStream to have an enhanced Internet experience and effectively an additional phone line," he said.

With JetStream, people can talk on the phone at the same time as they are logged on to the Internet using just one phone line.

Mr Thompson added: "The plans and pricing, supported by enhanced customer service and content, will mean that Telecom Xtra JetStream is a more accessible and attractive option for New Zealanders."

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Further details of the plans and features and a plan table are provided in the attached backgrounder.

Pricing and Plans

The monthly rental for the plans start at $49.95 a month for Telecom Xtra JetStream Home 500, which provides 500 megabytes (MBs) of usage a month, followed by $59.95 and $69.95 for the 1000 and 2000 MB plans.

Telecom Xtra's existing Home 500 and Home 1000 plans, which offer download speeds up to 2MB per second, are being renamed Xtra JetStream Home 500 Full Speed and Xtra JetStream Home 1000 Full Speed, and will cost $10 a month less at $59 and $79 a month, respectively.

Excess usage for all plans will be charged at 20 cents per MB. Equipment and connection charges will also apply.

The full range of Telecom Xtra JetStream residential plans is summarised as follows:

Plan Speed (download) MBs per month Monthly fee (ISP charge inclusive) JetStream Home 500 Up to 6x faster than dial-up (max 256 kbps) 500 $49.95 JetStream Home 1000 Up to 6x faster than dial-up (max 256 kbps) 1000 $59.95 JetStream Home 2000 Up to 6x faster than dial-up (max 256 kbps) 2000 $69.95 JetStream Home 500 Full Speed Up to 50x faster than dial-up 500 $59.00 JetStream Home 1000 Full Speed Up to 50x faster than dial-up 1000 $79.00 JetStream Starter Up to 3x faster than dial-up (max 128 kbps) 5000 Intl traffic NZ Traffic free $64.90

Xtra Self-Install Kit

To make it easier for customers to install JetStream, Telecom Xtra has launched the Xtra JetStream Self-Install Kit, which includes a modem, filters and a CD with a step-by-step guide to installation. A multi-PC kit is also available.

Priced at $199 and $329, the single and multi-PC Xtra JetStream Self-Install Kits will be available at Noel Leeming, Warehouse Stationery, Smith's City, Big Byte, Harvey Norman, Telecom retail outlets or by calling 123.

Connection charges will still apply.

Improved customer service

Telecom Xtra JetStream customers will automatically receive broadband usage alerts by email when they reach 80 percent and 120 percent of their monthly usage levels.

A specialist help desk will be available to Telecom Xtra JetStream customers between 7am and 11pm weekdays by dialling 0800 CALL XTRA (0800 22 55 98).

Broadband channel

Xtra will launch a new channel specifically designed for broadband users with the greatest choice of broadband content available in one place in New Zealand with sections for news, sport, business, entertainment, music and games.

Xtra has invested over $500,000 developing a Windows Media player and encoding system and upgrading its gaming servers for the arrival of the Broadband channel.

The Broadband channel will include the following:

News: International news will be provided by Reuters while local news content will be provided with streaming audio from Newstalk ZB and Radio New Zealand.

Sport: Top sports stories will be updated throughout the day from Newstalk ZB with topical news and interviews.

Business: International business news will be provided by Reuters and local news from IRN and Radio New Zealand

Entertainment: Trailers for current movies as well as short films will be supplied by the New Zealand Short Film Commission.

Music: Top clips from New Zealand's favourite artists (five music videos and thirteen music audios) will be updated weekly and supplied by Amplifier with streaming audio from local favourites George FM and 95bFM.

Games: Higher speed will enable smoother play and there will be a server booking service for Xtra JetStream customers as well as news and reviews, video features and previews and a gaming shop.

TVNZ - New Zealand news, sports news, business news, entertainment news, weather, Te Karere and current affairs will be provided by TVNZ and updated up to three times a day.

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