Telstra’s new mobile broadband plans could replace your NBN

Anula Wiwatowska - Offsite Editorial Lead

Last updated 28 April 2020

Telstra mobile broadband customers have seen drastic increases in their data allowances, and will now receive up to double their previous data limit, at no extra cost.

Prior to the upgrade customers received 10GB for $25, 50GB for $50, and 100GB for $75, but now will see 20GB, 60GB, and a whopping 200GB with the same price structure.

Upfront Data Plan Small

Mobile Broadband
30GB Data

$33/mth

Min. cost $33

Link not supplied

$33/mth

Min. cost $33

Link not supplied

Upfront Data Plan Medium

Mobile Broadband
100GB Data

$68/mth

Min. cost $68

Link not supplied

$68/mth

Min. cost $68

Link not supplied

Customers on the Large Data Plan are the real winners, with the new data allocation meaning you could potentially drop your NBN plan all together. According to recent studies, the average Australian household uses 196GB of data a month, meaning Telstra’s upgraded plans could cover you, with just a touch to spare.

Of course not every household is ‘average’, but if your internet usage falls within the threshold the Large Data Plan is a very real alternative to your NBN connection.

For the same monthly price, you could get a standard NBN connection with Telstra, with maximum download speeds of 25Mbps. With this deal you get 500GB of data to use through the month, but the typical evening speed is pretty low at 20Mbps.

The pricing isn't dissimilar to what you'd pay for pay for home wireless broadband, where you're typically looking at between $60 and $65 per month for a 200GB plan.

Mobile broadband however operates off your mobile network connection, meaning the speeds you can achieve will vary depending on your chosen modem and where you live. Theoretically if you’re using the Telstra 4GX capable modem in a capital city, you could achieve speeds of 1,000Mbps (which is ten times faster than an NBN 100). And of course, this isn’t even taking into account the potential speeds a 5G connection could yield.

In practice, most customers should easily get speeds between 50Mbps and 200Mbps over 4G. While testing Telstra 5G, we've typically seen speeds between 200Mbps and 700Mbps.

Data changes will take effect from the next billing cycle for existing customers, and will apply immediately for new subscribers. You will receive an email to confirm the change.

Anula Wiwatowska

Offsite Editorial Lead | Instagram

Anula is the Off-Site Editorial Lead for WhistleOut Australia, and an award winning tech journalist. She has been writing about the Australian telco industry, and consumer technology for over five years, and has been known to tell her Uber driver which phone they should upgrade to next.

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