In May, Telstra dipped its toes into the 'unlimited' mobile data fray and got burnt, pulling the plug on the Endless Data BYO Plan that offered 40GB at uncapped speeds before bumping it down to 1.5Mbps once that limit has been reached.
Then came the announcement that Australia’s biggest telco would be undergoing some massive changes, simplifying its business strategy (called Telstra2022) to make it more customer-oriented.
The Telstra2022 announcement came with the promise of “peace of mind data across a range of new post-paid plans”, which the telco has now delivered.
In a radical move to overhaul its mobile plans, Telstra has today announced a range of new “Peace of Mind” plans that do away with excess data charges, although there are some caveats. Despite that, the new plans are perhaps the best Telstra has offered to date.
There’s better value here
The new plans will “give customers the option of replacing excess data charges in Australia with backup Peace of Mind Data to use if they run out of their included allowance”. However, the Peace of Mind data – charged at $10 per month – will be capped at 1.5Mbps for the duration of the monthly billing cycle.
If customers choose to forgo the new Peace of Mind add-on feature, they will be charged $10 for each gigabyte that exceeds their monthly data quota, but at uncapped speeds.
Peace of Mind Data is available on all 24-month ‘buy a phone’ and ‘lease a phone’ plans. It’s also included in most 12-month SIM-only plans, the sole exception being the $49 option that comes with 15GB of data and additional charges of $10 per excess gigabyte.
If you aren’t willing to pay the extra $10 for ‘unlimited’ data, the $129 ‘buy’ and ‘lease’ plan has the new Peace of Mind package included, but keep in mind the speed after the 60GB limit has been exceeded will be bumped down to 1.5Mbps.
Fly free, at a cost
There is, however, a package that is truly unlimited. The $199 Ultimate option when you buy or lease a new handset offers absolutely no caps on the monthly data quota or the speeds at which you can surf the ‘net.
And, as a side note, if you choose to go with the $199 Ultimate plan, you may as well get the best phone available, and opt to buy rather than lease it, as this plan is a flat $199 across the board with no additional charges.
For more details, head to Telstra’s website and take a gander at the new plans on offer.
