The word ‘unlimited’ should be treated with scepticism in any broadband advertising. Dodo should be treated with extreme scepticism at all times. Put the two of them together and the only sensible option is to look elsewhere.
A recent post on OzBargain alerted me to something I had managed to avoid noticing before: Dodo apparently offers an unlimited ADSL2+ plan for $39.90 a month. Given that most other ISPs typically only offer a few gigabytes for that kind of money, it might sound tempting. But is it really such a good deal?
First and foremost, it’s worth pointing out, as we’ve noted several times before, that Dodo has a truly abysmal record when it comes to customer service. As such, we’d hesitate to recommend any option it was selling, no matter what the price.
Secondly, the price on offer is, to say the least, deceptive. If you visit the Dodo site, you’ll see a very prominent advertisement for $39.90 a month unlimited broadband, and the same figure appears on its list of plans. However, once you actually enter a number to check if you’re eligible, you’ll discover that the minimum monthly cost is $69.80, which includes getting your home phone service from Dodo. The rates Dodo offers aren’t especially competitive (25 cents per minute for national calls on that price), so that immediately makes the value proposition much more questionable.
Like similar plans from Optus, AAPT, TPG and Exetel, the Dodo plan requires you to sign up for a 24-month contract and is only available in metropolitan areas. We couldn’t find a specific document on Dodo’s site suggesting that unlimited usage of broadband was subject to ‘acceptable use’ restrictions, but its general usage policy is so broad that interpretation could probably be applied.
The bottom line? All the available evidence suggests that Dodo is not a good choice. If you do want a large download limit, the plans that emerged last week in the terabyte wars are likely to be less hassle and better value in the long run.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.