Telstra is raising its prices for the second time in a year, hitting its 22.5 million mobile subscribers with what one consumer advocate has called “a slap in the face” for customers reeling from higher inflation, surging petrol costs and climbing interest rates.
The 5 May price rises – which will see most postpaid mobile plans increase by $4 per month and prepaid plans rise by $5 per month – will “drive ongoing investment in our mobile network infrastructure”, according to Telstra Consumer Group executive Brad Whitcomb.
Telstra’s pricing overhaul will boost the price of its 5GB Starter plan to $55, although new customers will be barred from signing up for that plan and existing customers allowed to continue using it “until notified otherwise.”
That leaves new customers to choose between the Basic ($74 for 50GB of data), Essential ($84 for 180GB) and Premium ($99 for 300GB) plans.
Mobile broadband bundles will cost $33 for 30GB, $68 for 100GB, or $20 per additional 10GB data bundle.
Seven-day and 28-day prepaid plans will increase by $5, while 6-month 70GB/150Mbps prepaid plans will increase by $20 and the 12-month prepaid plan will increase by $45.
“Our customers are doing more on our network than ever before,” Whitcomb explained, “and we’re investing so we can deliver the best experience available [and] keep improving our mobile network performance, reliability and security.”
The funding will, he added, be used for purposes including expanding and upgrading Telstra’s 5G network, introducing additional new technologies, and improving resiliency and security across the network.
That leaves mobile customers footing the bill for recent innovations such as satellite-to-mobile messaging, scam call alerts, and SMS blocking – tools that, Whitcomb said, are “giving customers confidence, control and peace of mind every day.”
Adding insult to injury
The price increase marks the second year in a row that Australia’s biggest telco has raised the cost of its plans, having increased prices last 1 July in a move that it said would “help us continue to improve our mobile network performance and experience.”
Coming amidst an unprecedented perfect storm of financial disruption – and just weeks after Telstra announced a healthy $1.21 billion profit – ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett called the price rises “a slap in the face for millions of consumers”.
“As cost of living bites,” she said in a statement, “Telstra mobile customers should not be asked to shoulder price increases that outpace both inflation and community expectations.”
Australians “are absorbing surprise cost changes and sales pressure,” Bennett added as she announced the latest findings of ACCAN’s Consumer Sentiment Tracker, which found one-third of consumers reporting “unexpected changes” to costs or terms and conditions (T&Cs).
ACMA’s failure to “directly regulate consumer protections” had left the telecommunications sector “in the doldrums and consumer wellbeing at threat,” she added.
Telstra, for its part, pointed out that the price rises will also be accompanied by a raft of measures to help vulnerable Australians – including a 10% discount on most plans for concession holders.
A new, basic Access plan with 5GB of data will also be available “on account review through our specialist teams” – a nod to the $50 million fine the telco received in 2021 for “unconscionable” sales to vulnerable customers.
“Affordability isn’t one size fits all,” Whitcomb said.
Telcos struggling to improve their reputation
Complaints about telcos were up long before Telstra’s announcement, with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) recording a complaints surge in its latest reporting – although Telstra did record a 16 per cent drop after a torrid 2024.
Two-third of all financial hardship complaints related to mobile services, TIO reported, although financial hardship complaints decreased by 35.7 per cent year-on-year – “an encouraging shift the TIO will continue to monitor,” the ombudsman said.
And while Telstra argues that telcos have improved services at prices that are falling in real terms, its calls for understanding seem to be falling on deaf ears: Roy Morgan’s latest consumer trust survey labelled telcos Australia’s least trusted companies overall.
The more than 1,000 people surveyed ranked Telstra as Australia’s eighth least trusted company out of hundreds evaluated, while scandal-plagued Optus was second least trusted – better only than Woolworths.
“The default reputational home for the telecommunications industry is deep in distrust territory,” Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said, noting that “the hits just keep on coming for telecommunications companies, and distrust continues to rise.”
