Telstra’s business plans just got more expensive
Telstra’s new price hikes will unfortunately affect small businesses, with plans set to rise between 4.2% and 4.8% over the next few months.
If you’re on a Telstra business SIM plan, we have some bad news. The telco’s new price increases will affect all business plans, which will be rising between $3 and $4.
Telstra announced that starting August 27, postpaid plans will see a price increase, followed by pre-paid plans on October 22.
How much will Telstra business plans cost?
The price change includes business plans, which will rise between 4.2% and 4.8% depending on which plan you’re on.
Basic plans will rise from $62 to $65 per month, the Essential plan from $72 to $75, and the Premium plan from $95 to $99. Pre-paid plans will also see adjustments, with the $35 plan increasing to $39.
Telstra’s group executive, Brad Whitcomb, said in a blog post the company needs to invest in mobile coverage, performance and security to keep up with increasing data usage and to maintain its position as Australia’s largest mobile network.
“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,” Whitcomb said.
In FY2023, Telstra reported a net profit of $2.1 billion, a slight increase from $1.9 billion in FY2022.
This increase follows in the footsteps of Optus, which upped its prices for new customers in May. This was quickly followed by news in June that most existing customers would also be moved onto its new, pricier plans.
Still, price hikes are certainly not new for Telstra. Just last year the telco implemented an increase linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which saw prices rise by $4-$5.
Earlier in 2024, Telstra announced it was moving away from CPI-linked price reviews, which led to a 7.6% dip in the share price.
After the announcement of the pricing changes on Tuesday, the share price rose 2.2%.
“This change simplified our pricing approach to be more consistent across our products and services, and also reflected there are a range of factors that go into any pricing decision,” Whitcomb said.
According to Telstra, increasing the price of plans allows the business to “keep investing in mobile coverage, performance and local support, as well as ongoing investments to improve the security of our services”.
The current price hikes come amidst broader economic pressures, with Australia’s cost of living (and doing business) rising significantly.
Telstra acknowledged the potential hardship, pointing to its support options, such as flexible payment plans and account reviews.
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