It’s not just Optus doing something for customers in the time of isolation and work from home, as Telstra gets in on the act, too.
There’s a bit of good news if you’re a Telstra customer hoping to see your telco do something nice during this time of self-isolation amidst the coronavirus, because it’s doing what Optus did, and a little bit more depending on who you are and what you subscribe to.
While Optus has said it would add data to eligible customers (which later said it would provide details on those “eligible” customers later on), Telstra is making more of a broad stroke, and being a little more direct with how it provides its data.
In response to the COVID-19 coronavirus, Telstra will be adding 25GB of data to postpaid customers on its mobile network across both consumer and small business, though customers keen for the extra data will need to apply for the data on the Telstra 24×7 and My Telstra apps by March 31.
Prepaid Telstra customers can see a 10GB additional data boost provided they have an active recharge of at least $40, though from what we’re reading, they may not need to recharge to get the data immediately, with Telstra using the same approach getting customers to apply for the through the company’s apps.
And the company isn’t stopping at its mobile services, either. It’s looking to both its broadband and phone calls to make an impact for people who are self-isolating in these strange times, as well.
As such, Telstra will increase all of its home broadband customers to an unlimited data account, provided they’re not there already. If you’re currently using Telstra home broadband on an unlimited account, this won’t matter, but if your ADSL, NBN, or Telstra cable connection is capped, you’ll find until April 30, it won’t be, and the account is unlocked to unlimited data. April 30 is when this is expected to go away, mind you, though given anything could happen with the coronavirus and we could be self-isolating for longer, it’s possible that Telstra might be doing this for some time more.
Finally Telstra is also supporting pensioners who might still be reliant on a home phone, providing free calls to eligible pensioners with a Telstra home phone plan. Those free Telstra calls will work to local, national, mobile, and 13 and 1300 calls, though international calls are not included in the freebie, making it for nationwide calls for pensioners, but not to friends overseas in a similar situation.
“As people around Australia increasingly begin working and studying from home or self-isolating as part of the national response to COVID-19 demand for connectivity is rising rapidly,” said Andy Penn, Chief Executive Officer.
“To play our part, Telstra is giving our consumer and small business customers additional data as well as offering unlimited home phone calls to pensioners,” he said.
“We want to help our customers, who find themselves having to work from home, stay connected.”
