Telstra backs down on pricing

Mobile customers wanting to access the internet on their mobile phone will be able to download up to 150 megabytes a month by adding a $10 "data pack" to their monthly phone bill - up from the miserly 20MB that came on that plan until yesterday.

Similarly, a $29 data pack, which was previously capped at 80MB of downloads, will now allow 300MB before excess usage fees apply.

Telstra said customers would be warned by text message when they reached 80% of their limit.

While Telstra will remains the most expensive of the four mobile carriers - Optus, Vodafone and 3 Mobile are the others - the broadband price cut is the most significant change since Telstra activated Next G almost 22 months ago.

Telstra has previously defended its lofty costs on the basis of a "premium" product, because Next G was faster and offered bigger coverage.

While Telstra has cut access prices for its mobile phone customers, it made no change to the prices for customers with wireless Next G modems or data cards. Tech-savvy customers can, however, use some Next G mobile phones as a modem, to allow a laptop to access the internet.

Telstra's announcement coincided with 3 announcing plans for Apple's iPhone - despite being the only telco not having permission to sell the phones directly.

Customers who buy iPhones from other telcos but pay to have them "unlocked" will be able to use them on the 3 network on plans ranging from $49 to $199.

The cheapest plan will give customers $350 of calls and agigabyte of downloads, although they must still sign a 24-month contract.