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Telstra
Forget BigPond Music: Telstra is giving its customers a much more recognisable name in the music streaming space with an offer for free Apple Music subscriptions for post-paid customers.
Pitched as an “introductory 12 month trial offer,” the deal offers Telstra iPhone users on a 12- or 24- month Go Mobile Plan a year’s worth of Apple Music for free. When the deal expires, they’ll also switch over to carrier billing. But unlike other content deals offered by rival providers in the fixed broadband space, Telstra customers will still need to pay for any data they use whilst streaming their beats.
The news comes just one week after Telstra announced a partnership with another major US-based content partner, Roku, to provide its broadband customers with a new set-top streaming device known as Telstra TV.
As Australian mobile customers turn away from voice and text and towards data inclusions in a big way, content partnerships such as the deal inked between Telstra and Apple are proving to be a major draw card for winning over customers. And with early adopters of the Apple service slowly eating into their 3-month free trial period, there will be many customers looking for a way to extend the freebie even further.
According to Telstra, iPhone users with a Telstra Post Paid consumer mobile account will be able to get the free subscription in the form of a ‘Telstra Offer’ listed on their account. When the 12-month subscription is over, the deal will automatically convert to carrier billing. That means customers will see an AU$11.99 charge added to their bill each month, so they won’t need to set up payment with Apple separately.
Customers will still need to download the Apple Music app and activate the service themselves. The Telstra offer will cancel any existing free trial that they’ve set up through Apple, meaning Telstra is not likely to see a real uptick in adoption until a month or two from now.
With Roku-driven Telstra TV for home broadband users and Apple Music for mobile customers, Telstra is making a major play in the digital media and content streaming space. It remains to be seen how the other big fish in the Australian telco pool will respond, though many of their customers are not doubt hoping that increased competition will bring perks of its own.
Update, August 5 at 12:55 p.m. AEST: Included additional info about carrier billing.
