Like several other Australian telcos, Telstra allows you to get Foxtel through them instead of going direct to Foxtel themselves, that is of course if you have your home phone (and not just the basic package) with them.

And what does this wonderful offer get you. Well, they'll give free installation if you get something other than the basic Foxtel package (as pretty much everyone does) on a 24 month contract. And, they'll give you one of the packages (group of about 5-8 channels) free for 2 months, or 3 months if you subscribe to the platinum package.

Normal installation costs are $99, so this deal is worth somewhere between $110 and $145. The special Telstra rates save you $145 at most, plus give you up to 50 free local calls per month (normally in the order of about 20c / call) or 50 text messages per month if you have a mobile with Telstra. So, that's worth another $10, giving us a max benefit of $155, on a 24 month contract.

Let's compare this to Foxtel's current offer. They are currently offering free installation, plus the platinum package and Foxtel IQ free for one month. There is a 12 month minimum contract, but you can change the packages at anytime during the 12 months, as long as you at least have the basic Foxtel package.

So that's worth $99 (installation) + $105 (platinum package) + $10 (Foxtel IQ while on platinum) = $214. And its on a 12 month contract.

Guess which deal I've gone for.

So here's some advice for Telstra: if you're going to do special rates for your customers, make sure they are at least as good as the normally available rates, or else you just look stupid. Or greedy.

Posted by Dave Bryant at 9:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)