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Telstra announces T22 small business plans

No lock-in contracts, 24/7 IT support, more small business specialists, unlimited data broadband plans, and Telstra Business Technology Centres have been announced under the telco's new small business offerings.
Written by Corinne Reichert, Contributor

Telstra has taken the wraps off its new small business plans, including a 24/7 tech support service and a fixed-line fault "concierge".

The plans were announced as part of the Telstra2022 strategy unveiled in June, which saw 8,000 jobs axed and is focused on "simplifying" the telco's offerings.

"Our new approach for small business is built around three things: Flexibility to enable businesses to scale and choose what is right for them; greater cost certainty and value; and expert service and advice," Telstra CEO Andy Penn said.

"This is a significant increase to the level of dedicated service and support we provide small businesses, to help take away complexity and give them peace of mind with their technology usage and support."

Under the AU$69 per month Business Choice mobile plan, small business will be able to order a mobile device -- with tablet plans costing AU$29 per month -- with no lock-in contracts, meaning they can add and subtract mobile plans month-to-month as their business peaks; remove excess data charges in Australia; and provide choices of add-ons, including business devices such as the Microsoft Surface Go.

According to the telco, making the plans more flexible will enable small businesses to scale with more cost certainty.

Telstra Platinum for Business is the telco's 24/7 phone and online tech advice and support offering, which comes with an on-call IT team that provides advice, installation, setup, troubleshooting across new technology hardware, software, cloud, and payment services. The service is priced at AU$40 per month or AU$60 per month with Platinum Business Security Service thrown in.

"From 26 December, Platinum for Business Security Service will also be available to small business customers, providing three security assessments, an annual health check report, and updates on the latest threats to help keep businesses up to date about their security," the telco explained.

Telstra is also launching unlimited data broadband plans starting at AU$100 per month for 24 months as a standard inclusion on its Business Bundle plans, which also includes a Telstra Business Smart Modem providing mobile backup for broadband dropouts.

In addition, the telco said it will triple its small business specialists in retail stores nationwide, bringing the number up to 3,000.

Telstra will also launch a new national IT channel for small business customers who have "more complex technology needs", called Telstra Business Technology Centres, in early 2019.

"Telstra Business Technology Centres ... will operate across a national footprint of 28 regions and be run by expert teams from Telstra's existing group of channel partners," Telstra said.

"The teams in each centre will provide personal and virtual account management to local business customers, helping them make the most of technology to do things such as be found and sell online, operate virtual teams across geographies, and keep their operations and their customers' data safe and secure."

Lastly, Telstra's new "concierge" tech support service will help small business customers with National Broadband Network (NBN) or fixed-line service faults, which will be included in all of its broadband bundles.

Previously under T22, Telstra had introduced new consumer mobile plans in July, which were based around greater personalisation as well as removing excess data charges and improving customer experience.

Telstra's goal is to have 20 core plans in a modular design by June next year covering both consumer and small business, with its next milestone under the T22 strategy to be to introduce a "market-leading loyalty program" in March 2019.

The four-pillar strategy for the next three years has six goals: to improve customer experiences; simplify its products, business, and operating model; extend its "network superiority and 5G leadership"; achieve global high performance in employee engagement; achieve a net cost productivity of AU$2.5 billion by FY22; and attain a post-NBN return on invested capital of 10 percent.

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