Telstra will choke download speeds instead of charging extra fees when users hit their download limits

TELSTRA have decided to choke download speeds instead of charging extra fees once users hit their download limits.

telstra

MILLIONS of mobile phone and tablet users will have their download speeds all but stopped when they exceed data caps in a bid to stop losses from customers refusing to pay bill blowouts.

Telstra will scrap excess data usage charges for 3.4 million post-paid mobile and tablet customers within weeks, in a bid to curb so-called customer "bill shock".

The telco will instead slash internet downloads to a third of normal speeds and ask customers to purchase pre-paid top-ups or wait for their next billing period.

The move comes amid a boom in smart phones and tablets and after Telstra claimed last year it was losing tens of millions of dollars from customers who blew data limits and then refused to pay bills totalling thousands of dollars.

Telstra consumer marketing director Maryanne Tsiatsias yesterday said the initiative was an industry-first and would help customers keep their finger on exactly where they were up to with their spending each month.

"As our customers increasingly take to smartphones such as the Apple iPhone and Google Android based devices, were finding some of these later adopters are less likely to know about data charges both in Australia and overseas," Ms Tsiatsias said.

"This means our customers stay connected without fear of a hit to the hip pocket."

Research by the company in recent months has shown nine out of 10 of its customers would support slowing download speeds, with the remaining 10 per cent disagreeing with the proposal.