New Optus customers will have to fork out up to $13 extra for their monthly mobile plans but will get more data, with the telco blaming higher costs for the price rises.
From this week, the monthly price of Optus’ cheapest postpaid plan — known as the small plan — will increase from $49 for 30 gigabytes of data, to $52 with 50GB of data.
The new price is more expensive than rivals Vodafone’s 100GB monthly plan for $49, but cheaper than Telstra’s 50GB plan for $62.
“Due to the increasing costs to maintain and provide a great network experience, we’ve made the difficult decision to increase the price of some of our mobile plans,” an Optus spokesman said.
“Balancing the affordability of our products with the need for ongoing investment is a delicate task and we are acutely aware of this challenge, especially considering the vital role connectivity plays in our lives.”
As part of the changes, Optus will no longer offer its 100GB monthly plan, which previously cost $59, and instead offer a 180GB plan for $62.
Customers opting for the large plan will have to pay an extra $13, but will get an extra 140GB of data.
It comes after Vodafone increased its postpaid prices between 6 to 13 per cent in January for new customers, and in April for existing customers. Telstra last May announced it would increase postpaid mobile and mobile broadband prices by 7 per cent.