Telstra braces for network surge with streaming frenzy on free-data Sunday

AFTER a week that saw its mobile network in meltdown, Telstra has braced for huge traffic spike as angry mobile customers indulge in a download frenzy on free-data Sunday.

Telstra braces for free streaming frenzy

TELSTRA’S plan to appease annoyed mobile customers could backfire as people already are boasting of their plans to take the free Sunday of mobile data offer and swamp it with unrestricted sessions of torrent downloads and streaming video.

One commentator at telecommunications issue portal Whirlpool announced his plan to set an alarm for midnight on Valentine’s Day so that he and his girlfriend could start a 24-hour torrent download session while other Telstra users took to Twitter to announce plans to spend the day binge watching from streaming video sites such as Netflix, Presto and Stan.

A Presto spokesman said “we expect people will take advantage of the Telstra free data day by streaming their favourite TV shows and movies on Presto.”

“From the data we are seeing, it’s clear our customers are extremely comfortable using their mobile devices to access Presto to continue watching their favourite TV shows and movies. While we don’t break out numbers, we have also cited two prominent peaks of usage at the start and end of the traditional work day, which point to a trend we’ve dubbed ‘commutertainment’ where people are taking their streamed entertainment with them in greater numbers.”

Telstra’s one-day free for all to win back some customer goodwill followed the massive mobile outage on Tuesday that left millions of Australians without mobile network coverage.

@Telstra bushfire affected people couldn't get emergency advice , and your offer is 1 day of free data ? I can get that @ McDonald's thx

— Luke W (@lwebb10) February 11, 2016

The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network warns that a day of free data may not adequately compensate many businesses for their loss and advises people who feel they have a valid claim of compensation to contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.

Telstra chief operations officer Kate McKenzie said the network was expecting pockets of high demand but would be monitoring traffic closely and believed it could handle the increased demand.

Telstra’s Twitter account, which became the frontline in dealing with aggravated customers who were in the cycle of not being able to call in a complaint about their phones not working, has also had complaints from business operators complaining a Sunday of free data does not equate to a workday of hours being offline.

Telstra’s day of free mobile data comes (https://www.telstra.com.au/sunday-mobile-data) with just a few conditions.

It is open to personal and business customers on postpaid, prepaid phone, tablet and mobile broadband plans.

I wonder how Netflix would stream in 4G. I guess I'll find out on Sunday...... #Telstra #nothingelsegoingonthatday

— James McGrath (@james_r_mcgrath) February 10, 2016

I suspect Australia's use of bittorrent to skyrocket this weekend:https://t.co/Iedh0g9ZQw #Telstra #bittorrent

— Rodney Fletcher (@Rodney_Fletcher) February 10, 2016

Free data on Sunday!! Woohoo everyone stream like crazy haha :)... https://t.co/7tGklk5L9V

— Spoontech IT (@SpoontechIT) February 10, 2016

It covers people from midnight to midnight in their time zone. Telstra says its customers do not need to activate anything for the offer — they just can use their data and it will not be charged.

Consumer watchdog site Finder.com.au Telco editor Alex Kidman says there are no catches but “there are pitfalls”.

One tip for Telstra customers is to take a note, or even a screen capture, of their data before and after the 24-hour of free data just in case data usage on either side of the day is disputed. Telstra customers can download the free Telstra 24 x 7 app to track their data usage.

To screenshot an app on your smartphone, hold the power and home buttons simultaneously.

Another potential pitfall is speed. With every Telstra customer able to download without concern of data limits or cost, the network faces the possibility of congestion.

I'm excited for Sunday. I have the day off so I'm going to laze around all day watching Netflix. Thanks for the free Sunday data @Telstra

— Vanessa Hart (@MissVanessaHart) February 11, 2016