If you’re an Optus prepaid customer, there’s no reason to download your Spotify playlists to your phone any more. New and existing prepaid customers on Australia’s second largest mobile network will have uncapped, quota-free streaming of half a dozen different music services including Spotify and Google Play Music.
Optus Music, as the telco calls it, kicks in on May 2 on My Prepaid Ultimate, My Prepaid Daily Plus and “other selected plans”, and will let Optus customers access music from the extensive catalogues of Spotify, Google Play Music, Guvera, iHeartRadio and Pandora without that usage impacting their existing data allocations.
As long as customers have some data or prepaid credit applied to their accounts, they’ll be able to access these music streaming services — through their existing subscriptions, except in the free tiers of Spotify — without data use being counted as usage.
Apple Music is an obvious omission from the otherwise strong list — it’s likely that Apple’s ongoing partnership with Telstra played a role in this decision. Optus has around 3.7 million prepaid network customers, nearly equalling Telstra’s 3.8 million and eclipsing Vodafone’s 1.7 million. [Optus]
This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.
Comments
5 responses to “Optus Prepaid Customers Can Now Stream Music Quota-Free”
What about post-paid customers?
I almost got excited until I read that it’s only prepaid customers.
Completely ridiculous that those on a contract have agreed to pay them money for x-months and yet we don’t get benefits like this.”
Might be worth just getting a cheap prepaid phone just to listen to music.
The part I find disappointing is that Spotify is only quota-free for subscription members- Why not on Spotify Free?
From a former Mobile Support for an ISP perspective- its interesting that this means Optus are going to be able to determine where the data is being used on a device- Meaning when people spit the dummy at their excess usage charges- Optus should now be able to say ‘You used it on these sites 1, 2 ,3, now pay your bill!” 🙂
I get a bit annoyed when new offers come out to entice customers top join, and they aren’t given to existing customers. It’s like once you’ve signed up they really don’t give a damn about you. Optus aren’t they only one, they all do it. It really doesn’t build brand loyalty when the only time I get offered something new is when my contract is up.
Rumour is that It’s coming to postpaid later this year.