Using unmetered content to your advantage

Let’s say you have a Telstra Bigpond mobile broadband plan with 4GB of data. This plan includes complimentary access to Foxtel. You decide to stream a series on Foxtel using your Telstra iPad over a long weekend, consuming 10GB of data. Additionally, you watch two movies on Netflix, which uses up another 2GB of data.

By the end of the weekend, you only have 2GB of your original 4GB data allocation left. However, from Telstra’s perspective, the 10GB of Foxtel content you streamed doesn’t count against your data usage. This is because Telstra treats certain content, like Foxtel, as “unmetered,” meaning it doesn’t deduct from your data allowance.

However, this unmetering only applies to the specific connection you use. If you were to access Foxtel on the same iPad but through a different connection, such as your standard nbn® Sky Muster® satellite connection, it would consume your metered satellite data.

You should contact your RSP (Retail Service Provider) to understand what content is unmetered under your plan.

It’s important to remember that unmetering does not apply when accessing the internet via International Roaming.

Although the main content on an unmetered site doesn’t count against your data usage, certain elements sourced from other metered websites, like advertisements, YouTube videos, Google Maps, or social media services, may still use up your data allowance.

Plans such as the nbn® Sky Muster® satellite plans distinguish between peak and off-peak data usage times. Such plans often provide extremely generous data allowances for the quieter, off-peak period.

The trade-off is that you need to be able to use data at those times. Rather than trying to fit these sometimes awkward times into your schedule, you can organise and schedule software to perform tasks during off-peak times without being present.