Woosh Wireless drops its high-speed internet price

By PETER GRIFFIN, IT editor

Woosh Wireless has bitten the bullet and dropped its price by 15 per cent after research showing that $55 is the price most consumers are willing to pay for unlimited high-speed internet access.

Subscribers to Woosh's wireless broadband service, which the company claims is available to 70 per cent of greater Auckland and part of Invercargill, will now pay $55 a month for "unlimited" internet access, $10 less than they used to.

Woosh's general manager of sales and marketing, Sandra Geange, said Telecom's Jetstream price cuts in March had to be challenged.

"To some extent, that played a part."

But market research had shown that the $65 deal was out of the reach of many. "The research told us we'd have 30 per cent more take-up with the price $10 lower. We'll test that with the market."

Home users can pick up a Woosh modem for $199. The service's advantage over that of main competitor Jetstream is that the modem is portable, so it can be moved around a premises.

But feedback on Woosh has been mixed, with some customers complaining of patchy coverage and high "latency" - delays in connecting to the internet.

Geange said the network was delivering better performance.

"We'd made big strides in terms of latency. Our customers would now notice a big improvement."

Customers would not be able to make voice calls through their Woosh modems until towards the end of the year, and would have to rely on Telecom in the meantime.

Woosh will begin covering central Wellington this month. Progress has been slower in other parts of the country where Woosh has won Government funding to build community broadband networks.

Sites were built in Southland but Woosh has yet to sign contracts setting out the terms for coverage of Northland, Canterbury and Wairarapa.