2 million Next G customers get cheaper phone browsing

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 18 December 2007 10:50

Opinion and Analysis

Moffatt said that: “The removal of browsing charges within the Home and Today tabs will reduce the pricing uncertainty that many new customers face when they use a 3G service for the first time. Customers will only pay for what they wish to download or subscribe to and will be alerted to these charges when they apply”.

What Telstra have changed is the addition of a new ‘tab’ called ‘Web’ to the Next G browser, which remains an area that will be charged at whatever rates your existing plan charges you at.

Telstra says this provides “convenient access to a selection of the best known and most popular web destinations without the need to type in a URL – further encouraging customers to experiment and explore the world of mobile internet”.

Moffat said that: “We are making it easier for customers to click through to our portal partners - including MySpace, Hotmail and Yahoo!, so they can check out their friends MySpace on the bus or check their favourite email site while in a café. Browsing charges will apply to these and other third party sites at $2.00 per MB using ‘pay as you go’ or they can subscribe to a range of browsing packs, making it a simple way for customers to get their media on the run”.

Unfortunately for Next G customers, local competitors also offer browsing packs for the use of services such as MySpace and other online services, but these browsing packs essentially offer unlimited usage during each billing month – Telstra’s browsing packs only cover a certain amount of data usage, after which additional payments are required.

Telstra says that customers “accessing third party web sites through the BigPond Mobile portal (or by inserting website addresses into their mobile browser) can either pay for browsing as they go or by purchasing a Browsing Pack.  A variety of Prepaid and Postpaid Browsing Packs are available ranging from $5.00 for 5 MB through to $59.00 for 200 MB”.

Hmm... so... still expensive compared to the competition.

Moffatt ended the media statement by saying that: “Our approach is set to take the Australian mobile content market to a new level. We want to stimulate data usage and part of that is demonstrating that the mobile phone is now a highly advanced device for surfing the Mobile Internet, not just making calls”.

Yes, Mr Moffatt, making these kinds of moves certainly will encourage more mobile data usage, both chargeable and non-chargeable, something that’s good for the entire industry, not just Telstra.

But they’re a far cry from the unlimited usage packs that should be standard for consumers, who can then truly be certain of paying a set fee for the use of certain services each month.

That way post-paid customers need not be subject to surprise ‘bill shock’ at the end of each month, and pre-paid customers will find their pre-paid credit not disappearing quite so quickly.

Of course, customers subjected to such things will either have to learn the lesson of moderating their usage, or simply pay up each month.

Without Vodafone’s recent moves in mobile broadband and content packs (similar to 3 Mobile’s content packs), would Telstra have announced reduced browsing charges at the same time as announcing 2 million Next G customers?

I guess we won’t know anytime soon, if ever, but whether forced by Vodafone’s actions or not, at least Telstra is eliminating some browsing fees, making life a bit cheaper for the 2 million - and growing - Next G customer base.