Telstra increases wireless broadband allowances

Telstra has increased the data allowances of its pre-paid wireless broadband offerings.

Effective tomorrow, customers recharging their pre-paid services would receive up to three times more data at no additional cost.

Telstra's new data allowances are listed against its previous offerings below. All data allowances expire after 30 days.

Telstra also introduced two new options that offered longer expiry periods. A 3GB allowance that cost $130 could be used for 90 days. A 4GB allowance that cost $150 could be used for 180 days.

The announcement followed Telstra's changes to its post-paid plans in January, when it doubled the data allowance of its entry-level, $29.95 plan to 400MB.

According to Ovum analyst Nathan Burley, the new announcement aligned Telstra's pre-paid offerings with its post-paid plans.

It made Telstra's mobile broadband offerings more competitive, and Telstra's pricing model "justifiable", he said.

"Telstra, for a considerable amount of time, has been charging a premium because of the differentiators it provides like network coverage, higher speeds and network performance," Burley told iTnews.

"Previously, Telstra thought it could charge a substantial premium. The premium is now a smaller percentage and is probably now justifiable."

Burley said that wireless broadband was a key growth area for Telstra, which continued to lead the market.

Ovum found Telstra to have 47 percent share in the non-handset-inclusive mobile broadband market, followed by Optus with 28 percent.

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