Telstra to start throttling broadband speeds on mobile phones

It has been revealed recently that Australian communications giant Telstra is set to start throttling broadband speeds on mobile phones when consumers reach their allocated data allowance.

It has recently been announced by the Australian communications giant Telstra that it is going to be throttling broadband speeds on mobile phones once consumers reach their allocated data allowance. The company claims that this is being done to protect the consumers against bill shock and bad debts as a result of going over their allocated allowance by a huge amount.

According to Telstra’s chief financial officer, John Stanhope, the idea was first suggested last summer and formed part of a package of customer service initiatives. However, implementation had been delayed due to some technical issues. The measures taken by Telstra have helped to turnaround a decline in customer numbers, helping it to add one and a half million customers since June.

Speaking about the new measures he said: ”Obviously, not charging excess data means there is less revenue for the company, but we believe that in doing this you give the customer a better experience. ”We believe the financial outcome won’t be detrimental to us because the customers will stay. In many cases, customers will upgrade [phone plans].”

The move by Telstra has been welcomed by many officials, and Australian Communications and Media Authority chairman Chris Chapman said that it was the ”type of pro-active industry response” that was necessary. Other providers, such as Optus and Three offer various tools to help consumers to monitor their data usage more effectively.

Do you think this measure is useful in helping consumers to avoid bill shock?

Source – SMH