The wireless broadband market is heating up, with Unwired Australia announcing an overhaul of its wireless broadband pre-paid pricing.

David Spence, Unwired’s CEO, says that a healthy proportion of the company’s customers prefer pre-paid plans “as it suits their Internet needs”.

“We have researched this market and are offering a range of plans", ranging from a "7-day (400MB) pass from just $9.95 to 75-days (10GB) for $99.95”, said Spence. Unwired Australia has also increased the speed of its service to 512k.

The company has also hit back at claims by its competitor Optus that it was the first wireless Internet provider to enter the pre-paid market. Unwired stated that it has been servicing this market for over a year.

Unwired prepaid vouchers are available from a range of outlets including 7-Eleven stores and online.

Optus’ first pre-paid wireless broadband offer is for $199 which includes a USB modem, SIM card and 2GB of data allowance. Optus wireless broadband access can be “recharged” for $30 for 30 days at various retail outlets including 7-Eleven, Video Ezy, NewsLink newsagents, Shell petrol stations, Woolworths, Target, Dick Smith, Coles or online.

Vodafone also entered the USB broadband market this week launching its new USB Internet Stick that plugs in to any Mac or PC USB port for “plug and play” broadband Internet connection. The USB stick comes pre-loaded with network connection software that is automatically installed on a PC.

Vodafone’s mobile broadband plans start from $19.95 per month for 1GB of data. With a MicroSD slot capable of holding a memory card of up to 4GB capacity the USB stick can also be used as a flash memory drive.