Foxtel Broadband Review: Quality and Affordability?

Cable TV provider Foxtel moved into the internet business when it started offering home broadband subscription bundles – but how do they stack up against the rest?

The Foxtel “Bundle” packages combine cable or satellite TV channel subscriptions with home phone line services and high-speed broadband internet, with packages for current subscribers starting at $55/month.

Foxtel CEO Richard Freudenstein said of the initiative, “Foxtel Broadband is specially designed with entertainment and video in mind and maximises the value of a Foxtel subscription through flexibility, customisation of services and a simplified customer experience.”

Current Foxtel subscribers can bundle a 200GB ADSL broadband or NBN service with unlimited standard local calls from $55 a month. At the other end of the spectrum, $75 a month will give subscribers unlimited broadband “when added to their TV package” – and Foxtel Platinum HD subscribers can get this same offer for only $65.

• Minimum cost (24 months) = $2,424
• Monthly rate: 200GB for $75

New customers get a similar deal – 200GB per month, free local calls, plus a subscription to Foxtel’s Entertainment Pack. So that’s 45 news, general entertainment, factual, and lifestyle channels from $91/month, with packages offering unlimited broadband for $101 on a 24 month plan.

• Minimum cost (12 months) = $2,409
• Monthly rate: 200GB for $91

These costs are the same on both ADSL and NBN packages, with the NBN option offering customers the chance to adjust their speed tier from 12/1 to 100/40. This requires an additional payment per month, which depends on the package chosen.

1. Optus

Optus offers its Entertainment Bundle for $80/month with unlimited data as well as a home phone (with unlimited calls for an extra $5/month) – which could seriously turn some heads. You get the Fetch TV Mighty set top box, with one premium channel pack and the option to have all available channels for $14/month extra. It offers access to over 3,000 rental movies, receives free-to-air broadcasts and can also stream Optus Sport – which you get a subscription to for free with the bundle.

The removal of any obvious bandwidth cap is a nice change. And while it is not clear if the extra content features count towards bandwidth usage, if there isn’t a limit, maybe it’s not such a big deal?

• Minimum cost (24 months) = $1920 (including setup fee, waived if applying online)
• Monthly rate: $80 for unlimited bandwidth

2. Telstra

Telstra offers a range of entertainment broadband bundles that covers a large portion of the country – at a cost.

Their “M” package offers just 500GB for $90/month, plus unlimited calls to local land lines.

At the other end of the spectrum, the “XL” pack delivers an astonishing 4000GB for $140 a month, and includes national calls to landlines, standard numbers, mobiles and even some international calls. The XL pack, its baby brother the 2000GB per month L pack and the new 1000GB “Best Bundle Ever” all also come bundled with the new Telstra TV box, which is the Telstra-badged version of the acclaimed Roku 2. It opens up access to a world of streaming services, including Netflix, Stan and Foxtel Now – and you’ll certainly have the data allowance to stream to your heart’s content! It also comes with two Bigpond Movies rentals (for first time registrations only, and credit must be used within the first month of registering)

• Minimum cost (M Package, 24 months) = $2160 (if you self-install, otherwise $89 activation fee is added)
  
• Monthly rate: $90 for 500GB

1. Optus – UNLIMITED
2. Telstra – 5.5GB
3. Foxtel (current subscription) – 2.6GB
4. Foxtel (new subscription) – 2GB

But it’s not all about the gigabytes.

What makes this offering ideal is that Fetch TV also offers access to Netflix content – including new Netflix-only programs such as The Defenders, Grace & Frankie and Glow. Subscribers can stream Netflix content via Fetch TV’s 3rd Generation box for a low monthly fee.

However, there is a difference for sports junkies. Fox Sports, ESPN and Fox Footy are all Foxtel exclusive – giving both the Foxtel Broadband and Telstra packages a bigger draw. But Optus features its Optus Sports service, with exclusive rights to English Premier League soccer.

The same goes for proprietary channels such as SyFy, Comedy, Channel V, Cartoon Network, E! Entertainment and more. If you want them in a broadband bundle, it’s Foxtel.

What about the cable?

Both Optus and Telstra offer customers the use of their cable networks where available – but Foxtel broadband does not.

This makes it a question of utility – if you’re in an area where there’s no cable access, but you want the premium TV channels and internet, then Foxtel is an obvious choice. But if you currently have cable TV, why would you step down to ADSL when you could upgrade to cable internet or even fibre?

What about the NBN?

It is common knowledge that Foxtel is part-owned by Telstra – a big player in the ongoing NBN rollout – and there’s no way the cable provider’s new offering would bypass the new broadband infrastructure entirely. Instead, Foxtel is utilising Telstra’s ADSL network capacity to fuel its broadband offering – and when the time comes, Foxtel will most likely transfer their TV/Broadband customers to the NBN as it becomes available.