In a recent announcement from a major telecommunications provider, prepaid and postpaid customers are bracing for increased costs on their mobile plans.

The price hikes, set to affect a wide range of subscribers, come amidst changes in the competitive landscape of mobile services.

This move reflects ongoing adjustments in the industry as providers navigate evolving consumer needs and economic realities.

Telstra customers face increased costs for mobile plans following the Telco's announcement of price adjustments.

Starting August 27, postpaid customers will experience the changes, while prepaid customers will see them take effect from October 22.

Telstra will raise mobile plan costs for prepaid and postpaid customers starting August 27 and October 22. Credit: Shutterstock

According to Telstra Consumer Group Executive Brad Whitcomb, monthly fees will rise by $2-4, with premium plans experiencing the largest increase, climbing from $95 to $99 per month.

The price adjustments include increases across various plan tiers: basic plans will rise from $62 to $65, essential plans from $72 to $75, and bundle plans from $50 to $52.

Starter plan rates, however, will remain unchanged at $50 per month.

In addition, data allowances for starter plans will increase from 2GB to 5GB monthly within Australia, and speed caps will be lifted from starter and basic plans for domestic use.

The Large Data Plan will be discontinued, effective August 27, although existing customers can retain their plans ‘until further notice’.

Furthermore, starting October 22, the Telstra Top Up program will raise its free prepaid recharge from $160 to $180, including 70GB of data.

This follows the telco's announcement in May 2024 that they would no longer conduct their annual pricing review linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

According to a statement from Telstra, the change ‘simplified (Telstra’s) pricing approach to be more consistent across (their) products and services’.

‘These price changes help us to keep investing in mobile coverage, performance and local support, as well as ongoing investments to improve the security of our services,’ the statement read.
‘We monitor our network 24/7 to help protect against scams by blocking malicious calls and texts from reaching you.’

‘It takes a lot of work and cost to run a mobile network as large as ours, and even more to support the increased usage we have seen on our network,’ Telstra added.

The recent price hikes announced by Telstra for both prepaid and postpaid mobile plans have sparked concerns among customers about rising telecommunications costs.

Before this, another recent development involving Telstra emerged: an increase in fees for paper statements following changes by Australia Post.

These changes underscore a broader shift in how telecommunications services are priced and delivered, affecting both digital and traditional communication methods used by consumers across Australia.

Key Takeaways

• Telstra announced increases in mobile plan costs for both prepaid and postpaid customers, effective August 27 and October 22, respectively.
• Monthly fees will rise by $2-4 across various plan tiers, with premium plans seeing the largest increase from $95 to $99 per month, basic plans will increase from $62 to $65, essential plans from $72 to $75, and bundle plans from $50 to $52.
• Telstra will discontinue the Large Data Plan from August 27 and raise the free prepaid recharge under the Telstra Top Up program from $160 to $180 starting October 22, including 70GB of data.
• Telstra shifted away from its CPI-linked annual pricing review as of May 2024, aiming for a simplified and consistent pricing approach across its products and services.

Have you been satisfied with Telstra’s services? Do you think the price increase is justified? We invite you to share your experiences and insights in the comments below.

 

[IAN3005]

I'm less than a km from tower

At Coles and Woolies they sell Sim cards. You buy the 1 year one. Put it in your phone and set it up. Done for 12 months. Keep an eye on when they have specials. It's just a prepaid plan, but cheaper and you don't have to top up every month. Decide if you're better off in your area with Telstra or Optus.

thanks for that.... Coles and Woollies I do not shop with.... haven't for over 20 years.....

 

[LeahI]

thanks for that.... Coles and Woollies I do not shop with.... haven't for over 20 years.....

Might just have to make an exception on this occasion. Once you buy the Sim it just renews, no need to go in there .

 

[IAN3005]

Might just have to make an exception on this occasion. Once you buy the Sim it just renews, no need to go in there .

The only problem is I am adding to the mongrels' bottom line

 

[LeahI]

The only problem is I am adding to the mongrels' bottom line

But also yours

 

[IAN3005]

But also yours

Optus and Telsta.... one of the same..... I wouldn't use a Telstra product unless you paid me $5,000,000. I'll look into it and see what caches there are.

 

[rehandra]

I use very little data or my phone all that much. Last time I recharged with Optus (I have prepaid for 365 days) and it cost me $170. It is going up quite a bit and I am going to be looking elsewhere due to my usage being almost negligible.

 

[IAN3005]

I use very little data or my phone all that much. Last time I recharged with Optus (I have prepaid for 365 days) and it cost me $170. It is going up quite a bit and I am going to be looking elsewhere due to my usage being almost negligible.

I am considering Aldi prepaid - 10 GB data and unlimited national calls all for $19.00. Look under Aldi plan for seniors.
I am currently with Vodafone (the worst mongrels ever) who want me to enter into a 12-month contract for $36.00 the cheapest they can offer, lousy mongrels.

 

[Towing]

All I know is that if one needs to phone Telstra be prepared for a long wait before one finds a human who speaks English that you can understand. There's the push button this and that, music, talk to the machine or an Asian who is very polite but so hard to understand . My husband has been deceased for ages and yet my bill still has his name on it and charges for his email. Neither of us get an email service from Telstra but when I phone them, after an hour and a half wait, I'm told it is part of the plan and included and cannot get any satisfaction on the subject. Is the email service included no matter what and cannot be removed - who knows!

I believe there is a Telecommunications Ombudsman. If you can trace a Govt. Dept. of some type that can help you may get some assistance in lodging an official complaint. Do you know you know who your Member of Parliament is?

 

[Towing]

I am considering Aldi prepaid - 10 GB data and unlimited national calls all for $19.00. Look under Aldi plan for seniors.
I am currently with Vodafone (the worst mongrels ever) who want me to enter into a 12-month contract for $36.00 the cheapest they can offer, lousy mongrels.

In my experience Vodafone customer service is almost non-existent. Only method?? is via Internet. It that is down there is zero contact with them. I left them and went to Telstra as when I go on a holiday to some areas theirs is the only one that works at all

 

[IAN3005]

In my experience Vodafone customer service is almost non-existent. Only method?? is via Internet. It that is down there is zero contact with them. I left them and went to Telstra as when I go on a holiday to some areas theirs is the only one that works at all

Agree 110% would not recommend them. They are all interested in making a $$$ and providing NO service and a higher price...

 

[BeautifulMousey]

Sarcasm intended: These struggling telcoes have to cover the ever increasing costs of their CEO's massive bonuses and also their MULTI BILLION dollar profit margins. It's hard out there in their fantasy world, I mean, how does a struggling director earning only $240,000.00 year supposed to survive on $657.53 a day, seven days a week. Life's a bitch.

Gee that's a nice salary. We pensioners have to survive on $1000 per fortnight

 

[Bill MacL]

Gee that's a nice salary. We pensioners have to survive on $1000 per fortnight

That's only a small salary for a director, some of them are getting double and even more than that.

 

[BeautifulMousey]

That's only a small salary for a director, some of them are getting double and even more than that.

It really gets to you when you have people like that who earn such big salarys but still complain about the cost and how are they going to manage. Mind you they can go out to restaurants and buy expensive meals not go to Macca's and buy a $6.95 meal that consists of 2 hamburgers and chips and drinks.