Telstra, Vodafone launch unlimited data plans as market battle heats up

Vodafone and Telstra have both moved to counter Optus by officially launching mobile plans with unlimited data.

Pedestrians walk past a Telstra store in Melbourne. (Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg)

Telstra and Vodafone have both moved to counter Optus by officially launching mobile plans with unlimited data, as the war for customers in the tight mobile market intensifies.

Singtel-owned Optus was the first to throw down the gauntlet with an unlimited data mobile plan, albeit on a trial basis, and Telstra has responded in kind with a $69 per month SIM-only plan that gives customers 40GB (gigabytes) of data at the fastest speeds available.

The speed available on the plan, available from May 3, will slow down to 1.5 Mbps (megabits per second) once the 40GB data cap is reached.

Meanwhile, Vodafone has also brought forward the release of its latest offering, with the telco launching unlimited SIM-only plans at three monthly price points — $60, $80 and $100.

Vodafone’s $60 plan offers 30GB of data at the fastest possible speeds, while the $80 and the $100 plans offer 60GB and 100GB of data respectively.

The moves see Telstra and Vodafone offer unlimited data as their mobile margins come under pressure and they prepare for the entry of TPG Telecom as the fourth mobile operator.

Optus’s ‘Unleashed” plan, a SIM only offering at $60 a month, was launched to the public last month on a trial basis and is no longer available. While the plan had no data caps it did have a 1.5Mbps limit when it came to streaming music and video content and flagged that speeds may be slowed down during peak congestion times.

“It was a limited offer that was made to selected customers,” an Optus spokesman told The Australian.

However, Telstra and Vodafone’s formal offers to the market could potentially force Optus to bring the plan back to the market.

Launching an unlimited plan is particularly significant for Telstra, which has traditionally charged a premium for its mobile service.

Vicki Brady, head of Telstra’s consumer business, said that the telco needed to make the move to meet changing consumer expectations and to better leverage the strength of its network.

“We have invested billions in our network, pioneered world-leading 4G speeds and pushed our 4G coverage out to more than 99 per cent of the population.”

“We are now introducing the unlimited plan Australians tell us they want while maintaining the superior network experience they expect,” she said.