An Introduction to Telstra
The company Telstra holds a firm place in the Australian consciousness. Formerly known as Telecom, the company began offering domestic telecommunications services in 1975.
Changing their name to Telstra in 1995, the company was taken out of Government control with three sell-offs in 1997, 1999 and 2006. This has reduced Government ownership of Telstra to 17%. While the public have benefitted from this sell-off with the money earned being placed in Australia’s Future Fund, this has meant that Telstra has a responsibility to its shareholders to make a profit, with prices for its services obviously being affected.
Telstra’s Internet services are provided under the name BigPond. These include ADSL, ADSL2+, cable, wireless, satellite and dialup Internet.
Internet Services
At the maximum download/upload speed of 30000/1000 kilobits per second, Telstra offers cable Internet with a limit of 200 MB for $39.95, 400MB for $49.95, 12 GB for $79.95 and 60 GB for $139.95. These are some of the most expensive rates in Australia for cable Internet services.
Since Telstra offers telephone services as well as being an Internet service provider, discount plans are offered if you should choose to combine your Internet usage with home phone and/or mobile usage.
It should be remembered that, like Optus, Telstra charges expensive amounts to users who go over their download limit for the month. Charges of $150 per gigabyte can be made to those who aren’t aware they’re over their limit.
Although Telstra BigPond is Australia’s largest internet service provider, overall customer satisfaction with their services are currently at a concerning low. A Choice Magazine article found BigPond to be the worst provider for both ADSL and wireless Internet services. The general observation made is that Telstra’s prices are too high, the level of download speed is too low and the download limits are not as generous as other providers.
Like Optus and Dodo, Telstra counts the amount of uploads made by users as well as their downloads. This means that should you send a file to a friend that is 100 megabytes in size, this would be counted the same as if you had download 100 megabytes worth of data. This is not the case with the majority of ISP’s.
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Can be bundled with home phone and mobile
- Offers ADSL 2+ in selected areas
Cons:
- Expensive
- Uploads counted to data usage
- Low rates of customer satisfaction
Conclusion
Despite being the largest ISP in Australia, Telstra has some of the lowest satisfaction rates of any provider. While plans can be bundled with mobile and home telephone services for a discount on all three, it’s recommended you seriously consider other brands before deciding to purchase BigPond internet services.
