Telstra’s bundling of Foxtel with its own internet and home phone line services has traditionally been an attractive proposition — pay for two services on the one bill and get a discount. But with the recent massive price cut for Foxtel plans dropping the entry level price to just $25 per month, Telstra’s $49 minimum starts to look a lot less enticing. Instead of cutting prices, Telstra is adding more content to those existing plans.
A tip from one of our readers (thanks Deano!) pointed us to a support page on Telstra’s website, detailing some imminent changes for existing Foxtel on Telstra customers. If you are one of those customers who bundles their Foxtel cable subscription with a Telstra account for internet, home phone or another service, you should have already received a letter telling you the changes to your service.
Depending on the level of your existing Foxtel on Telstra subscription, you’ll get a different range of new channels and adjustments to your plan. The current Essentials package for Foxtel on Telstra, for example, includes 42 channels including FOX8, FX and MTV, while the Premium Movies & Drama and Sports packs each add on 10 more. Those packages will change, but won’t mirror the new Foxtel collections, as of 3 November.
It’s also important to note that if you’re a Foxtel on T-Box customer, the updated plans don’t apply to you. Foxtel on T-Box is already impressively cheap if you don’t need the huge amount of channels that the cable subscription offers, even if it won’t be on sale for too long itself.
We’re checking with Telstra as to precisely what those changes to the Foxtel on Telstra packages will be. As it stands, it doesn’t make much sense to pay $49 per month for the cheapest Foxtel on Telstra package when you could be getting it for $25 directly from Foxtel, unless there’s a big difference in the channels on offer, so Australia’s largest telco will have to work hard to keep customers happy. [Telstra]