Price hike for customers on older Optus mobile plans

Optus customers on older postpaid mobile plans will be hit with a $4 per month price increase from August 8, but benefit from additional data.

Optus wouldn't confirm exactly which customers will be impacted by the change, but it seems to only affect customers who signed up for their plan prior to May 3, 2021. Customers on current Optus postpaid mobile plans will not see an increase.

Customers on Optus' old $39 per month plan will now pay $43 per month, but get 20GB of data. Customers on the $49 per month plan will pay $53 per month, and have their data allowance increased to 80GB. And customers on the $59 per month plan will pay $63 per month for 160GB of data.

This brings the monthly price of these plans almost in line with Optus' current plan range:

For comparison, here's a selection of plans powered by the Optus network with at least 20GB:

Importantly, customers paying off phones via Optus on impacted plans will also see an increase in their monthly bill. This is because all local telcos now treat handset repayments and plans fees as two separate billing items. While the plans don't have any lock in - you can leave at any time by paying out the remainder of your phone - you can still be subject to price increases on the SIM part of your plan.

An Optus spokesperson attributed the price rise to due to its ongoing investment in its network and inflation.

"Our ongoing investment in expanding and upgrading services, the growing data demands on our network, and increasing costs of goods and services, means we’ve made the difficult decision to increase the price on selected mobile plans," said the spokesperson.

"Optus will continue to strive to deliver extraordinary value, meaningful differentiation and choice for our customers."

Optus says it has contacted all impacted customers directly.

Today's news follows Optus' decision to increase Optus Sport prices. From August 1, Optus Sport will no longer be free for Optus customers, who will instead pay $6.99 per month. Customers who don't have a plan with the telco will see their Optus Sport subscription go from $14.99 per month to $24.99 per month.

Optus isn't the only telco to have increased prices, with Telstra upping the cost of its Upfront mobile plans between $3 and $4 per month, for both new and existing customers. This price rise came into effect on July 1. In addition, Telstra has said it will increase its mobile plan pricing between $2 and $4 per month in July each year, in line with CPI.