2.5 years ago I was fortune to get Telus’s “Unlimited 75” Mobile Broadband internet plan. $75 a month for unlimited usage. I have a 3 year contract.
High speed internet is not available where I live so this thing has been a blessing.
Shortly after they offered this plan, they quickly removed it from their offerings and now their max plan includes 5 GB for around $60, with each additional Gig costing $30 more. My family uses about 10-15 gigs per month as we have the air card connected to a Cradlepoint router.
I was grandfathered in so I was quite fortunate.
When my 3 years is up, and my contract expires, can they just subtly remove me from the plan I’m currently on and start billing me for data usages above 5GB, or must they notify me first?
I always assumed it was like when you lease an apt; after your 12 month lease, you go ‘month to month’ under the same terms.
What do you guys think? I don’t want to bring it to their attention and remind them that they can now legally boot me off, but I also don’t want to get a bill in Feb for 10 GB of overage charges either.
I’m pretty sure that they can (and will) factor out your current rate and put you into a current one. They will probably notify you, but I wouldn’t count on it.
I think I would call the company now and ask about it. It’s too early for them to change your billing so it shouldn’t set off any alarms.
If it was the US then they’d have to keep you on the current plan on a month-to-month basis. Our free nights and weekends have begun at 7PM and ended at 7AM for almost 10 years because they were grandfathered. And I’ve been on an “unlimited” data & texting plan for $15/mo because of AT&T’s 3-week screwup a few years ago, we’re off-contract but still get the discounted rate and AT&T has acknowledged we’ll get the plan as long as they offer data & texting (this was not some pissant in the call center, but rather a rep from the “Executive Office” responding to an FCC complaint, but that’s another story).
Since OP lives in Australia, I can’t speak to how it works down there.
ETA: And the suggestion that the phone company can raise rates without notification is troubling, here in the States I doubt it would pass muster and here in California I guarantee it would not.
I am not aware of any jurisdiction in the US that permits a public utility to raise their rates without A) approval from the board that regulates the public utility and B) advance notification (generally 30 days minimum, up to 90 days or more) in writing.
Again, other countries, YMMV.
Whenever we’ve gone off contract, the existing plan stays in effect even if it’s not one they currently offer. Another poster mentioned that the OP is in Australia, which I didn’t realize, so things might be different there. However, the company is unlikely to slam you with a big bill without notifying you of the change initially.
Now, if you make any changes (new phone or whatever) then I suspect everything will reset, big time, and you’ll have to go with whatever current plan they offer. Good incentive to keep using your old equipment as long as possible.
I’m currently on a 3ish year old cell phone plan that’s better than what they’re offering now. I get 1000 shared minutes for $49.95; the comparable plan my company offers now is 700 shared minutes for $59.95. They haven’t changed my billing or minute allotment yet, even though my contract expired a while ago.
We’re planning on upgrading soon; not sure if they’ll force us onto the less favorable plan at that time or not. Probably.
Telus is a cellular, Internet, and land line provider in Canada (http://www.telus.com/), serving the Western provinces primarily, but they have some services across the rest of the country. Perhaps you were thinking of Telstra? (http://www.telstra.com.au/)