Telstra has almost completely switched to a pre-paid direct debit block model. It’s very difficult to get a pay-as-you-go plan unless it’s a business account with multiple services. The way it works is:

• Pre-pay some fixed amount per month
• Includes unlimited national calls and text messages within Australia
• Includes a certain amount of “fast” data in Australia, and unlimited data throttled to a lower speed after exceeding the “fast” data allowance
• Includes an allowance of international calls to selected countries
• Additional international calls or calls to other countries require pre-paying for blocks of calls
• International roaming costs $10/day for calls and text messages, charged daily
• International roaming data requires pre-paying for blocks of data

Telstra switched to this model in the last year. Optus switched to a similar model as well.

The reason was they were having huge problems with dishonoured direct debit transactions. They’d have to try and chase the people for the payment, then disconnect them if they still wouldn’t pay. There was a lot of cost involved.

Switching to a pre-paid direct debit model makes it simpler and cheaper for them. If the transaction is declined, they cut off service immediately, and it’s the customer’s responsibility to sort it out before service will be restored. It greatly reduces risk for them.

I understand why they switched to this model, but It frustrates me as someone who always paid their bill. You can’t just leave your phone on roaming in case you receive a text message, and you need to commit to a certain minimum amount at a time for international calls rather than just paying for what you use at the end of the month.