Telstra trims Next G SME pricing

Telstra has announced it will cut pricing and boost data allowances for its Next G business customers, but details are scant.

From 21 January 2010 Telstra said it would double the data allowance on some of its wireless broadband plans while boosting the data allowance by seven times for its $39 "Standard plan". It has not specified which plan's allowance would be doubled; however, Telstra's current $39 plan offers 400MB of data, with excess usage charged at 25 cents per MB.

At the low end, the telco will offer no-contract plans starting at $5 per month, which it currently already does with a cap of 5MB, while heavy users will be able to purchase 120GB plans. Pricing has yet to be released for the top end product, though it currently only offers up to 100GB plans for $600 per month for its mobile internet business customers.

Unlike last week's announcement of new mobile broadband pricing for consumers, Telstra has not said whether it will ditch excess usage charges for business customers.

The consumer 1GB plan was reduced from $59.95 to $39.95 per month while Telstra broadened its range of higher-usage plans, offering 3GB for $49.95 per month, 6GB for $79.95 per month and 10GB for $119.95 per month.

Telstra also announced a new line up of Acer netbooks which it plans to offer from early February. Business customers will be able to buy an Aspire One 10-inch screen netbook with a $19 data pack, with repayments starting at $28.29 per month for two years. The 13- and 15-inch Acer notebooks will be available with its $59 a month 6GB data pack for $149 and $249 respectively, with additional repayments of $62.46 per month. Total costs for the two offers would be $3064.04 and $3164.04 respectively.