Ah, but is Telstra being legit about its denial? One of the annoying things about big companies is they can claim every rumour is false until the company makes it official. Like how companies say “we have no current plans to do XYZ” when what they really mean is “we are not yet ready to announce our plans to do XYZ…”

I hope Telstra are smart and are more competitive compared to the other carriers. Yes, Telstra has a great network but you really do pay for the experience. Please Telstra go for more volume sales this time and enjoy some of the huge benefits that Optus received with their great value iPhone plans last time. This is a great opportunity to really win over those iPhone 3G users that were on a two year contract.

Jason (4:03pm) Optus has gone to the dogs since the iphone, their network congestion is terrible. Your phone would say 3G, but when it was time to check an email, it would drop back to GPRS or not get a data connection at all. Their network is over-subscribed to say the least, and all their profit hasn’t really helped the network performance. Telstra might be more expensive, or give you less data, but the connection works first time every time. Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten.

I hope that Telstra have an “upgrade” deal for those (like me!!) that bought the iPhone 3Gs on a 24 month contract (earlier this year [i got mine in April]).

I mean that I could go, pay a little bit of money and get the iPhone 4 at a discounted price.

Yes/No?

any info on when the iphone 4 will be officially hitting our shores?

It was obvious they were bodgy anyway, read the fine print at the bottom… “…and the new Micro-Sim currently used in the iPad is required for iPhone 4″

Yes, the iPhone uses a micro SIM, but what does that have to do with the iPad?

I agree with Jason….Telstra lower your pricing to at least match what everyone else is doing and maybe, just maybe people will come back. After 18months with Optus I would happily moved back to T if only you werent so damn expensive. Yes the network is great compared to others and so it should be considering who Telstra is and where they have come from but the pricing does not reflect a competative attitude.

Kristen,
glad these plans are false. yes, they are a bit overpriced (not sure what apple dictates to telstra). agree with Jason, volume sales in combination with new home bundles would be good. i think current 3GS plans could apply to iphone 4 as well. i know i am dreaming, but that’s what i have been doing for while. i think telstra should go in early and catch other carriers off-guard. here is the chance to lead…

Phew. Was thinking about moving to Telstra until I saw those fake plans. Those plans + an extra 250MB or so data on the $49 cap and you’ve got yourself a deal

Jason (8.55am)Optus aren’t the best carrier, but it is usable.

Neither optus or vodafone are usable for me anymore. Calls straight to voicemail when phone is showing full reception. Need to restart phone sometimes to get data. SMS’s wont send / arrive in batches.

After having the original iPhone, the 3g and the 3gs and having been with virgin, optus and vodafone I am definitely going with Telstra this time. My experience with 3g iPad with telstra has confirmed this.

I have to agree with Matthew and I couldn’t have said it any better myself. ..But I’ll give it a go!

The only people who actually sign on for Telstra’s over-priced products and happily continue to use them while paying through the nose are 70 year old retirees who can’t tell a keyboard from a mouse and cashed up bogans who make $100,000+ a year digging holes on mine sites and couldn’t care less about shopping around for the best deal and spending all their savings. All you have to do is look at some of your ridiculously priced internet plans with minuscule quotas and you’ll know to steer clear. 5 percent of your customer base might have actually signed on for the “quality of service” but rest assured that the other 95% didn’t know any better.

Telstra, get your act together. Take a long hard look at your pricing versus your competitor’s pricing and above all, treat people with some respect because you WILL eventually lose your customers and market share, especially with the more tech-savvy generation of today.

I think I’d have trouble responding to Beldon Fernardo. Yep, my spy name. Not very inconspicuous, I know. Even Bill Smith would find that name suss.

Thank you. Any efforts will be greatly appreciated, Glam Booker, if that is your real spy name.

Let me know the plan meister’s thoughts.

Regards,

Beld… Brent

Dave, there is absolutely no reason why Telstra cant do as good as the Competition..
It should be at least ,as follows.

$49 cap = 500 MB
$79 cap = 1.0 GB
$99 cap = 1.5 GB
$129 Cap = either 2GB

Free 5mins Telstra to Telstra on same account.
Free MMS/SMS on $79 cap and above.
Some free social networking and maybe even free Whereis navigation somewhwere..

Kristen,

with that code language, i am sure you will make a fine spy in some parts of the world at the moment (you can guess which country).

Nice article here on iphone war in Australia – Can Telstra win it? http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Telstra-TLS-iPhone-HTC-Telco-Smartphone-Optus-Voda-pd20100708-764UQ?opendocument&src=rss

now, if telstra wants those 1.4 million optus iPhone customers,as well as retaining its 1.9 million, then this is the chance to do it.

Please make sure the plan meister sees this article too.

Dummies guide to winning the iPhone 4 war:
16 GB iphone 4 free on the $49 cap – also when bundled with home bundle, get combo reward and increased downloads etc.
32 GB iPhone – Free on the $79 cap – also when bundled with home bundle, get combo reward and increased downloads etc.

you can kill two birds in one – get optus iphone and homeline customers. also get paid for this by NBN for transferring them to new OFC.

well, i wait for the judgement day – let me get back to deciphering the code to find that out.

I have an iPhone 3G and plan to buy the iPhone 4 when it is released here (I also plan to buy a 3G iPad, possibly the next model). Currently, our family’s home phone and three mobiles are with Telstra.

I must admit I am reasonably optimistic about the upgrade process, because my Apple retailer (NextByte Adelaide) made my iPhone 3G setup completely painless, including transferring my contract from my previous Nokia mobile phone. I’m hoping they can do the same for iPhone 4 and iPad, including transferring my daughter’s mobile to my iPhone 3G.

I look forward to hearing more about upgrade offers and general pricing for current iPhone customers.

(I refuse to get a spy name, because (being very ill) I have enough trouble remembering my own name, but I am willing to answer to “Madame X”, at least by saying “Huh?”. Kristen, I love the personalization, humour and direct contact you offer here.)

Hey Kristen,
Basically we have to wait for Apple to announce when the iPhone 4 will be released in this country, before Telstra can announce its plans, correct ?

We picked up 3G’s for our business 14m ago just before the 3GS was released. At that time Telstra would have cost us $120p/m + Phone vs $79 for Vodafone (600min/450mb Free Phone).
I put the father-inlaw onto Telstra last week when he wanted an iPhone. Telstra finally had a plan competitive which is good to see.
As long as Telstra can give something around $80-90pm with 5-600mins and 500mb-1gB data included we will be moving all the business phones to Telstra iphone4′s.

We now just wait and see if we can get the hell away from this crappy Vodafone service.

Telstra’s new cap plans (released late May) represent better value and closer alignment to the current market offerings, however competitors continue to squash their prices and include more and more (data and other) value in their mobile products. As we move towards IP-only networks, fast data speeds and reliability are increasingly on the general public’s mind when considering a choice of networks. Telstra’s plans have often met with derision for their horrendous value, but users have made it ABUNDANTLY clear that the data speed/reliability of the NextG network is second to none. Rather than reducing prices or increasing inclusions dramatically to increase subscription-base (and thereby forgoing network speed and reliability á la Optus) could Telstra perhaps look at increasing included data in it’s mobile offerings while imposing a maximum data speed for certain plans (e.g a $49 cap offers more data but speed is limited to 1.5mbps, $79 limited to 3mbps, $129cap limited to 7.2mbps,etc, and maybe users could pay an additional premium to access faster speeds on a lower plan)? Telstra’s BigPond pricing already works like this. As people use their phones more and more as their primary Internet device, does it not make sense for connection speed to correlate directly to price, as has been the case with fixed broadband connections for years? And wouldn’t this help to avoid the congestion and speed issues that have plagued AT&T (in the US) and Optus, while allowing Telstra to increase it’s subscriber numbers?

Hi Clytie or Madam X

Thanks for your kind words. I’m glad it all worked well for you. I think that you might make a great spy because (as well as forgetting your name), you will forget secrets and therefore be an absolute asset if you fall behind enemy lines!

Kristen, I never thought of that! I’m off to enlist with ASIO before I forget!

BTW, the next time The Plan Man calls you “dear”, call him “toots” in reply.