Several months back Telstra was taken to task over their “unlimited” data plans that included speed caps. The telco giant is back with a new unlimited data pack offering, and it apparently has no shaping. But it will cost you a casual $199 per month.
While there is no official cap to the speed, the plan is “not shareable”, is for “personal use in a smartphone or tablet only” and falls under the FairPlay policy. That presumably means that even for $199, the Telstra Data Guy can’t get away with taking advantage of the system again. If you manage to impact on the network, you’re probably going to get shaped.
The plan also comes with unlimited national and international calls and texts and 10GB of roaming data.
This announcement was just one in a range of new plans announced by Telstra today. Many include a ‘Peace Of Mind’ option which will slow down connection speeds to 1.5Mbps if users go over their monthly data limit, rather than hitting them with excess data charges.
But peace of mind isn’t free — you have to pay an extra $10 per month to access this slow-down option. Alternatively, you can be charged $10 for every extra GB of data you use after going over your cap.
All of these plans fall under the ‘Telstra 2022’ plan that aims to streamline mobile plans from 1,800 to 20 over the next three years. This plan also recently involved making roughly 8000 employees redundant.
This move by Telstra may be a reaction to the Federal Court ruling that the ads for its previous $69 ‘Endless Data BYO Plan’ were misleading. The tagline for the ads was ‘One word from Australia’s best mobile network. Unlimited.’
The problem was that there were limitations on the plan – a 1.5Mpbs speed cap came into affect when users went over 40GB. Rival telco Optus took subsequently filed a suit against Telstra over the word ‘Unlimited’ and the Federal Court agreed.
Considering the public blowback over the previous “unlimited” plans offered by the telco, it’s unsurprising that they are trying again as a form of make-good. But the price tag is equally unsurprising.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2018/05/federal-court-rules-that-telstras-unlimited-mobile-ads-are-misleading/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Telstra-410×231.jpg” title=”Federal Court Rules That Telstra’s Unlimited Mobile Ads Are Misleading” excerpt=”Last week Optus sought Federal Court orders to force Telstra to cease using the word “unlimited” in advertisements for their $69 per month mobile plan. Yesterday it was ruled that these advertisements constitute as misleading and deceptive.”]
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2018/05/telstras-new-69-unlimited-plan-isnt-exactly-unlimited/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/iStock-473666120_1080-410×231.jpg” title=”Telstra’s New $69 Unlimited Data Plan Isn’t Exactly Unlimited” excerpt=”Telstra has just announced its very first smart phone plan with “unlimited” data… but it has a speed cap.”]
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2016/04/1tb-downloaded-sydney-man-smashes-telstra-free-data-day-record/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Download-410×231.jpg” title=”1TB Downloaded: Sydney Man Smashes Telstra Free Data Day Record” excerpt=”How much data did you download on Telstra’s free data day? Not as much as Sydney resident John Szaszvari, who held on to his record-holding status by downloading almost a whole terabyte of data in a single day. Here’s how he did it.”]