Telstra’s new plans stream ahead

Telco revamps its home bundles to include free access to Presto, Stan and Netflix.

Telstra CEO Andrew Penn delivers the company's full year results during a media briefing in Sydney, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)

Telstra has revamped its home bundles to include bonus subscriptions to Netflix, Stan and Presto, after it said video makes up over two thirds of data on its network.

As first reported by The Australian last week from tomorrow, customers who take up the telco’s new $90 Medium plan and above will receive a Telstra TV as well as three month subscriptions to Netflix, Stan and Presto.

Entertainment has become a new battleground for telcos after Singaporean-backed Optus paid $189 million for the English Premier League football broadcast rights last year and signed deals with Netflix and Stan, while Vodafone offers subscriptions to Stan and music streaming service Spotify as part of some of its mobile plans.

“There’s no ‘one size fits all’ solution for Australian households, so we’ve built a range of new add-ons customers can choose including additional data, calling, entertainment, speed and premium support, to help customers build a plan to suit their personal needs,” Telstra executive director Stuart Bird.

Telstra, which has endured a tumultuous year after mass outages and executive resignations, said in conjunction with the new plans it would be introducing the Telstra Gateway Max 2 for faster streaming speeds and better Wi-Fi coverage across the home.

“This means customers can stream, surf and share with less interruption, in more places, all at the same time,” Mr Bird said, citing research showing 60 per cent of people streaming from the bedroom, and 12 per cent from the bathroom.

He also said Telstra would be bringing an all-in-one hybrid modem to he market next year, combining Telstra’s fixed and mobile networks, for when users first get their fixed broadband connected or for when it goes down.

“We know waiting to have a fixed broadband service connected can be a hassle. Our upcoming Telstra Frontier modem will draw on the power of our national mobile network to get households up and running while a fixed service is activated,” Mr Bird said.

“Customers moving home, or setting up a new broadband connection will be able to get online quicker than ever.

“And, if a customer’s fixed broadband service is unavailable, the Frontier will switch over to the mobile network to keep the household connected,” Mr Bird said.

Customers who sign up to a new bundle will also be use any one of Telstra’s 500,000 Telstra Air Wi-Fi hot spots for free until 27 March 2017.

Despite Telstra’s recent struggles the telco said this month it will reward shareholders with a $1.5 billion share buyback after a 37 per cent surge in full-year profit, as Telstra earmarked another $3bn to bring its recently-troubled network up to speed.

With Jake Mitchell.