Why Australia’s Oldest and Largest Telco Has the Best Offerings for Seniors
To most pensioners faced with rising costs of living but diminishing income streams, keeping tabs on expenditures can seem like another full time occupation. The cost of connectivity is a major source of distress, as pensioners are faced with a bewildering variety of seniors phone plans, bundles, and deals with inclusions they don’t want or need. Many seniors have been inadvertently hooked by long term contracts they didn’t intend to make, early termination fees, as well as the costs of acquiring handsets to replace dysfunctional analogue phone lines.
Most seniors at most times end up paying for services they don’t need in confusing phone plans. Source
Policymakers and industry stakeholders have turned to the nation’s biggest telco, Telstra, for solutions to our seniors’ connectivity issues. Telstra has also been quite responsive in stepping up to the plate, currently offering many discounts for seniors, as well as other month-by-month contracts with no termination fees best suited to pensioners as well as low-income individuals.
The tech giant’s initial response to calls for bundles better tailored to seniors was the Telstra Senior Bundle – although this has since been removed. Eligible customers, who were chosen from Senior cardholders and Seniors Business Discount cardholders “who are not connected to the internet”, were invited to try out the bundle for $59 per month, with $179 as the minimum initial cost including the upfront casual fee.
Telstra’s Best Bundle for Seniors in 2019
Policymakers and stakeholders have called on Telstra to see an end to the dilemma most seniors are facing with connectivity costs. Source
Beside the discounts offered to seniors, Telstra also offers all-inclusive packages that can help with savings compared to standalone plans. Telstra’s Unlimited Home Broadband Plan + Streaming Bundle gives customers’ solutions to accessing a reliable home phone line and broadband connection. The plan’s Essential bundle, which comes in at $70 per month, provides a home phone line, a Telstra Smart Modem™ that enables wireless connection throughout the home, a broadband connection with 100GB of monthly data allowance on the NBN25 tier, plus more. There’s a $99 connection fee, but that doesn’t apply to those who sign up online.
Key Features of Telstra’s Unlimited Home Broadband Plan + Streaming Bundle
- Broadband and data: 100GB of monthly data allowance is decent enough for moderate online activities such as web surfing, checking up emails, and some Netflix and video streaming sites. That amount of data should be sufficient for most seniors. However, if it doesn’t prove to be enough, Telstra allows seniors to switch between plans without incurring fees at the end of the month.
- Home Phone: The bundle’s home phone includes offer standard local, national and international calls. Telstra also offers special discount rates for those who make international calls regularly. The home phone line plan covers 500 calls to 13 numbers, and offers a rate of 40¢ per call for calls made over the first allowance.
Do Telstra’s Senior Discounts Really Count?
Seniors with eligible pension cards, including cards relating to the age pension, disability pension, and other government welfare programs, qualify for a variety of benefits on the Telstra network. However, these benefits are divided across various services and plans offered by the telco. Some benefits include the waiver of paper bill fees, late payment fees, credit card surcharges and other similar charges, free call control to prevent certain types of calls, and discounts on connection fees. These discounts and features apply to seniors across the range of Telstra plans.
Are Telstra Senior Bundles Really Good Plans?
Telstra’s senior bundles cater decently to seniors’ needs for broadband connectivity, reliable home phones as well as considerable waivers on additional costs of connectivity. As long as internet activities remain moderate, Telstra’s plans have options that will cover the needs of most seniors. The plans also cover the cost of unlimited access to local and national calls, although that comes with a small monthly fee. All in all, the simplicity, inclusiveness and cost-effectiveness of Telstra’s senior bundles make them worthy of consideration for any older customer.