Must read: Windows Phone outselling iOS, ultrabooks on the rise: Estonia does hardware differently

Topic: Telcos

Telstra to revamp iPhone plans

Summary: Telstra has announced a rejig of some of its iPhone-associated data pricing, increasing the amount of data customers will be able to download without incurring excess fees, in the wake of Optus' success in the market.

Joseph Hanlon
Suzanne Tindal

By Joseph Hanlon and |

update Telstra has announced a rejig of some of its iPhone-associated data pricing, increasing the amount of data customers will be able to download without incurring excess fees, in the wake of Optus' success in the market.

Although the company didn't mention the iPhone specifically in its release, the hyped phone's presence was felt as Telstra raised the download quota of its 3G data packs, with consumer marketing and channels executive director Glenice Maclellan saying the rise was needed "as devices catch up with Next G capabilities".

A $10 data pack now allows users to download 150MB instead of 20MB, and the $29 data pack 300MB instead of 80MB. Excess data usage rates have also been reduced for the $10 pack, from $1 per MB to 50c per MB above 150MB and for the $29 pack from $1 per MB down to 25c per MB above 300MB.

Those already on a $10 or a $29 pack will automatically have the additional data allowance added to their plans over the next few months according to Telstra.

The price of data on the iPhone on Telstra had previously been touted as the most expensive on the market, leading to long lines outside Sydney's central Optus store a week after the device's launch, while Telstra headquarters remained crowd free.

Sources have said that the telco didn't have long enough to nut out its pricing and make it competitive in the time between them getting the iPhone late June and selling it on 11 July.

ZDNet.com.au also understands the telco has experienced a high level of porting, with people simply getting the phone, unlocking it via third-party hacks and moving to other carriers.

The drawcard for Telstra was supposed to be the free access to Wi-Fi at hotspots through the city, but even this freebie has attracted some annoyance on Whirlpool forums.

Topics: Telcos, Apple, Big Data, iPhone, Telstra

About

Suzanne Tindal cut her teeth at ZDNet.com.au as the site's telecommunications reporter, a role that saw her break some of the biggest stories associated with the National Broadband Network process. She then turned her attention to all matters in government and corporate ICT circles. Now she's taking on the whole gamut as news editor for the site.

Google+ Contact

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Talkback

11 comments
Log in or register to join the discussion

  • Too little too late

    Telstra say the didn't have long enough to nut out their plans? More like either a lack of regard for their customers or a lack of knowledge within the company I'd say. This is an embarrassing backflip for them, can they do anything right in regards to the online space?
    anonymous
    Reply Vote

  • "Whingepool"

    The the article references whingepool...so cannot be taken seriously!
    anonymous
    Reply Vote

  • "Whingepool"

    O RLY?
    anonymous
    Reply Vote

  • Telstra vs Whingepool

    I wonder how many people who site it as Whingepool have ever visited it. There were views from both sides, and the complaints were almost all breif and not whingy.

    Personally - it wouldn't matter if Telstra was giving iPhones away with free access, I still wouldn't have one.

    I have seen too many people done over by Telstra mistakes, and Telstra never seems to resolve any of them. I will never use Telstra unless there is litterally no other option.
    anonymous
    Reply Vote

  • Better but not good enough!

    Can someone explain to me why $10 will give you 150mb yet $29 will give you 300mb? How come you're paying three times as much just to get double? Shouldn't the higher you go the more value you get...
    anonymous
    Reply Vote

  • Doesn't surprise me

    Doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Telstra must have lost a lot of customers over these past few weeks. I heard at the Sydney Apple store when it became clear the majority of customers were lining up for Optus, Telstra had nearly all of their allocated kiosks reallocated to Optus. I believe Optus had 37 kiosks or something open at one point and still had a queue going down the street while Telstra only had 2 kiosks and no queue at all.
    anonymous
    Reply Vote

  • Definitely not good enough... But...

    "why $10 will give you 150mb yet $29 will give you 300mb? How come you're paying three times as much just to get double?"

    Actually $29 (three times the price) for double the download is better as 150Mb and 300Mb are both effectively next to no data. Once you get into excess data (WHICH YOU WILL), you pay half as much on the $29 plan.

    So $29 on the $10 plan buys you 188Mb
    VS $29 on the $29 plan buying you 300Mb

    And then double the price per megabyte for those on the $10 plan VS the $29 plan.
    anonymous
    Reply Vote

  • Telstra? Hotspots?

    Another thing - Telstra are actively decommissioning their wireless hotspots in favour of NextG. And they're certainly not deploying any new ones - having pulled the plug at a few universities I'm involved with.

    So that's not much good either, is it?

    For my money, if I lived in a major metro area I'd be looking to put a device like the iPhone on any carrier but Telstra.
    anonymous
    Reply Vote

  • Still a long way off....

    I highly doubt the new plans will give Telstra any further market credit for their woeful iphone plans. 3 have released plans, albeit they do not sell the iphone, which offers plans with Calls and a 1GB data usage for as little as $49 p/month.

    Telstra go back to the drawing board!!!!
    anonymous
    Reply Vote

  • Hotspots

    And now with Starbucks shutting quite a few shops, the number of Telstra hotspots gets even lower...
    anonymous
    Reply Vote

  • Time as an excuse? Bull!

    While it can be said that Telstra, among all Australian mobile companies, didn't have a long time to nut out their pricing because they didn't have the final nod of approval from the Apple genius's that they would in fact be getting the new toy.

    But reality is, they should have been preparing for a launch of the iPhone no matter what, from day dot of it's announcement. Also, our legislation condemns monopolies, and with the iPhone being a most wanted item, there had to be a minimum of two businesses looking after the phone.

    Telstra, grow up!
    anonymous
    Reply Vote
CNET Join | Log In | Privacy | Cookies Close