New Flat Rate Jetstream Starter Plans from ihug

ihug Launches New Flat Rate Jetstream Starter Plans And Reduced Phone Rates

ihug, New Zealand’s original internet pioneer, today fired another round in the battle to cut charges for Broadband services, introducing three new flat priced 128k plans – with no excess fees.

Ihug’s new services targeting three different types of users. Lite, $14.95 per month, is for people who use the internet only for email and general web surfing. Medium, $24.95 per month, is for gamers, music lovers and multimedia users. And Heavy, $34.95 per month, is for the truly serious users who are forever downloading large files.

A Telecom access fee of $29.95 applies to each plan.

“Our aim is to simplify plans and reduce uncertainty, so users can get on using the Internet to do the things they need to do,” says ihug GM of Sales and Marketing, Duncan Shand. “We’ve overthrown any barriers caused by complicated calculations about likely data usage and fears of incurring excess fees.

“Naturally we want to offer these types of services on other JetStream services, but are waiting for some sort of unbundling or wholesaling agreement.”

Each plan offers a pre-determined volume of high-speed data, with the level set to meet typical data usage profiles. Once users reach the data ceiling, transmissions will be slowed down to modem speed – but importantly they can keep using the Internet without incurring any additional charge.

Lite plan users will get a total of 5 GB of data split between international and national traffic. Medium plan users get 15 GB data and Heavy plan users get 20 GB plus unlimited national data.

Plan Int Peak1 Int Off National Total (MB) Price2
Lite 1,000 1,000 3,000 5,000 $14.95
Medium 3,000 3,000 9,000 15,000 $24.95
Heavy 5,000 15,000 Unlimited 20,000 + $34.95

1. Peak time is between 2:00pm and 2:00am
2. Telecoms access fee of $29.95

All of these plans qualify for ihug’s combo discount if the ihug direct dial phone service is taken at the same time. This gives the customer an additional 10% off either the phone or their internet service (and the customer can choose where they can make the most savings).

ihug has also introduced 26 new 2 hour international capped call rates for New Zealand’s most popular calling destinations, including Australia, UK, US, Canada, South Africa, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Hong Kong. It has also reduced its per minute rate to 12 international destinations. Note all ihug per minute rates are offpeak 24 hours a day and rounded to the second after the first minute.

“The other guy may offer customers a small discount in order to keep their toll business. Our customers know that they will continue to receive much better value from ihug on their overall phone spend,” says Shand. “They recognise better value.”

ENDS

About ihug

ihug Ltd is New Zealand’s original internet pioneer, it has over 100,000 current subscribers across broadband, dial-up and telephony products in New Zealand. It also provides wholesale broadband and satellite access and web services to telecommunications operators and ISPs. The company has achieved its position from a culture of continuous innovation, which includes New Zealand’s first flat rate Internet access plans, high-speed internet access and is one of New Zealand’s leading VoIP telephony service providers.

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