CANBERRA: Telstra the Australian leading telecommunication company has introduced two new plans for its customers named has mobile handset plan and BYO plan. In its new plans Telstra has raised the data usage for its customers up to 7GB on different packages. The new plans would start from April 9, 2015.
For the Mobile Accelerate handset plans, customers paying AU$95 per month will receive 3.5GB per month on top of their monthly 2.5GB per month, for a total of 6GB per month.
Customers on the AU$130 per month plan will receive 10GB per month instead of the normal 3GB.
On the BYO plans, customers paying AU$45 per month will get 2GB instead of 500MB, while customers on AU$55 will get 3.5GB instead of 1.5GB. Customers paying AU$70 per month will get 6GB instead of 2.5GB, and customers on AU$95 per month will get 10GB instead of 3GB.
Business plans have also received a boost, ranging from an extra 500MB on the AU$65 per month plan, up to an extra 7GB on the AU$135 per month plan.
The new contracts also include a six-month subscription to Presto, the video-on-demand service owned by Foxtel — a company half owned by Telstra.
The company also announced on its blog on Tuesday that it would follow in the footsteps of Optus and Vodafone, and allow customers to opt in to have AU$10, 1GB data packs automatically added to a customer’s account when they reach their monthly mobile data limit.
Customers can opt in via the Telstra 24/7 app or online.
The data expires at the end of each month, and the customer returns to their regular monthly limit at the start of each new month.
The change of tune comes in contrast to comments from CEO David Thodey when Optus and Vodafone first announced their own plans to tackle bill shock in 2013.
“We manage the excess data usage very closely. It’s a fine balance you’ve got to get, because excess data usage might be good for revenue, but it really annoys customers, and you get bill shock and all those sorts of things,” he said at the time.
“I’m not so driven by what others say. I’m more driven by what we do for our customers and what is right for us. I think we’ve got a pretty good feel on that. I’m not inclined to talk about what we’re going to do next month, but I can tell you we know very intimately whatever is going on in the market and we respond.”
Over the past few weeks, Telstra fixed-line broadband customers have also been receiving an email advising a data top up for using their services. The amount varies, but customers will keep that amount for the life of their plan.
Telstra said it will boost the data of all 2.5 million broadband customers across ADSL, cable, and the National Broadband Network (NBN) over the next few months.
