September 26, 2013 
Telstra has given into mounting industry pressure and announced changes to their global roaming charges. The announcement comes in response to competitors Vodafone and Optus lowering their rates significantly in recent months.
Optus lowered their charges to between $0.50 and $1 per 1MB depending on the country a consumer visits, while Vodafone offers a $5 charge for the user to gain access to their current data plan overseas.
Telstra has lowered their charge per 1MB from $15 down to $3 for casual usage and have significantly increased the quantity of data provided when consumers purchase a Casual Traveller Data Pack. The current $29 data pack buys 20MB and will be increased to 100MB. The changes will come into effect on 14 October 2013.
The telco’s have been price gouging customers for years with overseas data roaming rates and while the changes are a significant win for the consumer, the charges are still too high when you consider Optus’ rates are 16.6 per cent of what Telstra is charging per MB in some countries.
Do you feel the telecommunications industry has been given a free reign on pricing for too long and it’s time for the government to enforce competitive, yet affordable pricing?
