Telco giant hangs up on hundreds of plans
MORE than 11 million Australians will be forced to change their mobile phone plans after the country’s largest telecommunications provider launched a major overhaul of its services yesterday.
But Telstra’s “radically” different plans come with significant incentives for users, as the company revealed it would ditch “lock-in” contracts, kill off excess data fees and undercut phone plans from traditionally cheaper rivals Optus and Vodafone.
The move is part of a $2.5 billion cost-cutting scheme announced last year that will result in the telco losing 8000 jobs.
Telstra’s changes will mean the 1800 offerings currently used by its customers will be streamlined into just 20 plans, with 19 unveiled yesterday.
They include five postpaid mobile phone plans ranging from $40 a month for a service with 2GB of data to $100 a month for a plan with 150GB data.
Telstra’s new $50 plan, offering 15GB of data, is priced at $5 less than similar offerings from Optus and Vodafone.
Telstra’s new services will no longer come with a contract attached, allowing users to change their service monthly or even leave the telco, and internet downloads will just be slowed after users reach their monthly limit.
Telstra chief executive Andy Penn told News Corp the new plans would also address common customer “pain points” by removing fees for paper bills and eliminating bundles many customers did not use.
“Customer expectations are changing and larger companies have got to be prepared to be bolder in terms of disrupting themselves before somebody else does it to them,” Mr Penn said.
Mr Penn said Telstra customers would still be able to purchase phones on contracts over 24 or 36 months, and would also be able to add “value-added services” to their plans, such as international roaming and entertainment services.
Kewarra Beach resident Kirra Louise Watson has been with Telstra for eight years.
She recently purchased a new Huawei phone under a more flexible plan.
“The main thing I look for in a phone plan is lots of data,” she said.
“Wi-Fi is good mostly everywhere these days, but I want the flexibility to be able to access music and videos.
“Telstra are also really good for reception – I’ll often be at places like Fitzroy or the bush where Optus users don’t have signal but I still generally do.”