If you have an iPhone with Optus and are trying to sign up to their Usage Alerts thingy through the website, you will get this error:
The service you have selected is on a mobile plan or fixed line service that does not support Usage Alerts.
I just spoke to a guy at Optus who was actually useful and actually knew what was going on and actually spoke English! What are the chances? He said the website is still being updated to include Usage Alerts functionality for the iPhone because it’s a new handset this hasn’t been done yet. Apparently the update is not so straightforward as the iPhone (allegedly) uses different technology for its data usage than regular phones. They don’t have an ETA of when Usage Alerts will be available to iPhone users. This could all be bullshit but it makes me feel better believing I will be able to get it one day.
If you’re on a Post-Paid mobile Cap Plan or have a fixed line account, it’s easy to control your spending. Just set up a Usage Alert and we’ll send you an SMS when you reach your chosen limit.
DO WANT.
You’ve been had. Optus has no problem tracking how much data you’re using, and whilst the “technology” is different from 2G and 2.5G phones, this is irrelevant. Usage alerts are disabled to make it more difficult for consumers to track their bill before they receive it. Because of the way the ‘Cap’ plans are structured, once you exceed your ‘Cap’ you start getting billed at a rate between 5 and 10 times faster than you intuitively expect (because of the nature of the ridiculous and entirely invented “included value”). This is how they make their money, and this would be near impossible if users were warned immediately when they reached the threshold.
Yes I now realise that tech excuse was bullshit. One day I will write a web page for iPhone that pulls the usage data off Optus website.