Telstra No Longer Supporting "Carrier Billing" for Grandfather Telstra Prepaid (Dec 3 2017)

So it seems Telstra are phasing out carrier billing.

From the page:
"From 3 December 2017 you will not be able to subscribe to new digital content, apps or services from other companies through Premium SMS or Telstra Carrier Billing. This is because we're phasing out Premium Service subscriptions."

So it seems Telstra are phasing out carrier billing for Google Play, etc for prepaid customers.

——— CLARIFICATION!!! ———

I need to fix this after talking to a few people.

"Does the change affect all content?
No. If you have existing subscription services, or you add new subscriptions before 3 December, they will still appear on your Telstra bill or if you are a pre-paid customer, they will continue to be debited from your pre-paid account."

IT WILL ALSO NOT AFFECT ONCE OFF PURCHASES; FOR EXAMPLE - IN-GAME OR APPS THAT COST MONEY.

It will only affect NEW subscriptions AFTER December 3rd! So if you're not signed up to Netflix or the like yet, and are thinking about it, DO IT BEFORE DECEMBER 3rd!!

Sorry for the misleading information.


In saying that, bummer, because I was attempting to offload some vouchers I had to people who wanted Google Play credit and were on old grandfather plans that could use them, i.e. Freedom Plus, Encore, etc.

If anyone is willing to give me a hand, PM me, but just for general knowledge, I linked the FAQ / Crowd Support link above. RIP :(

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Comments

  • +7

    For the people that are interested, I've just implemented subscriptions within my app. You can read more about it here: https://pastebin.com/PSsBnEQX

    • set mine up soon after got the email. Thanks heaps…

    • What app?

    • Sorry how do you do it? I’m interested in implementing it too. Thanks

    • The topic says it doesnt effect one off purchases.

      Doesnt that mean we should be able to use WWW as per normal, has anyone done it since the 3rd?

    • The note has been removed?

  • I bought like a million things and still have $60 of credit…

  • Guess the days of marking my calendar every 12 days to do a CM2U to retain my balance is over.

  • Trying to buy apps and not working now… "Unsuccessful - the user is suspended". Maybe it's dead.

    • same here :(
      Just tried to buy ES File Explorer Pro
      Same reports on Whirlpool

      IT WILL ALSO NOT AFFECT ONCE OFF PURCHASES; FOR EXAMPLE - IN-GAME OR APPS THAT COST MONEY.

      Guess this is wrong

      • I just purchased a book fine.
        Edit: attempted to also buy ES file explorer pro and it was unsuccessful.

        • Tried on a book, failed also
          If they really allow prev subscriptions to drain the account, that'd be good. Still $184 left in account - spent this afternoon browsing for books

        • @payton: Yep i tried on another book and that failed.
          this sucks.

        • @Axelstrife:
          Same guys, i wanted to activate a subscription to a newspaper and it is not taking the money! However if is a free trial it will still let you do it.

      • Unfortunately I can't edit my post anymore, but that is correct. Telstra sent out a text to those affected saying it will stop ALL Google Play Store purchases.

  • If anyone has a current subscription that is auto-renewing in the next couple of days, please report back here if it went through. Hmm actually my Netflix is renewing 3/12…. guess I'll find out soon enough.

    • +1

      My Google Play Music family subscription successfully renewed this morning. $18 debited from my recharge credit balance too. I also managed to increase my Netflix subscription to the $18/month plan yesterday. That renews on 9/12.

      Unfortunately, like some others here, I have been unable to make one-off purchases in the Google Play Store since receiving the text. I haven't tried any in-app purchases yet.

      • Hard to know if it's supposed to have stopped today, or if today is the final day.

        • Tomorrow should be definitive then.

    • My Netflix renewed fine today. Next sub renewing on the 7th.

  • I just realised that my Netflix sub through Google Play was insulated from price rises this year. Still $14.99 when it was meant to be increased to $17.99 even for existing users. Do subscribers get this benefit when paying through iTunes?

    • I think it’s just you. My subscription was $9.99 but went up to $11.99

      • That's bloody weird. I even created a new account earlier this year, so there's no reason they would grandfather my subscription rate for being a really longtime customer.

        • +1

          Going by this comment yesterday, you may not be the only one! There is no $14.99 plan anymore!

        • +1

          @alwaysupforabargain:

          Yeh ive been on the 11.99 plan for ages after the HD 2 streams plan increased to 13.99.

        • +2

          @legendarypoo: Appears to be an inherent part of in-app subscriptions according to Google Services Developer literature

          Important: To change the price of a subscription, you can publish a new subscription product ID at a new price, then offer it in your app instead of the original product. Users who have already purchased will continue to be charged at the original price, but new users will be charged at the new price.

          This is a great reason to subscribe this way vs directly through Netflix.

          20% off Google Play Store cards at Coles this week too. I'm off to get some as soon as there's confirmation of failed sub renewals via Telstra credit.

  • Received token 10gb on two family accounts ameliorating these unwinding of benefit. Might have been better had foxtel mobile unmetered been maintained (improved upon) through these changes. I hope final 3/12 3rd party subs can go through as permitted.

  • +1

    I'll be interested to hear if anyone has a subscription payment go through in the next day or two.

    • yeah, would be nice to know whether to order a new carrier SIM or not haha

    • On whirlpool first user has reported that their Netflix sub failed today.

      Will wait for another few comments before calling it official, but I think Google Play Billing is completely dead.

      Need a new thread, who to go to?

      • nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

      • I didn't know about Coles mobile but they seem to have decent plans and 35 day expiry unlike most other prepaid plans which only have 28 days.

        • Just be careful.. the $10 plan is (unusually) just a 10 day recharge!

        • @scubacoles: Damn, thanks for the pointer! Will keep that in mind!

        • Yes pretty good $20 for 3gb and 35 days.

  • +2

    So If you need Telstra Coverage, Boost are the cheapest option

    If not, the Coles Mobile offer looks pretty darn good.
    $10, 35 days, 1Gb, Unlimited Talk and Text
    $20, 35 days, 3Gb, Unlimited Talk and Text

    Those plans pretty much cover the requirements for my wife and I at half the price of what we are paying Telstra.. (of course we were extracting $60 worth of other goods from Telstra each month)

    • Will wait for another few comments before calling it official, but I think Google Play Billing is completely dead.

      Someone else reporting the same now.

      requirements for my wife and I at half the price of what we are paying Telstra

      When you look at it from the perspective of you can likely get similar mobile service for cheaper it lessens the pain a little at now having to fork out for my subscriptions.

    • What if you don't need that 99% coverage just go with 95%. Would Aldi bet the better option?

      • Looking at Coverage Maps, I don't see a huge amount of difference between Optus and Telstra Wholesale coverage in the areas I travel, in fact Optus look marginally better for overall coverage (mostly 3G), TW look marginally better for 4G coverage (with a Band 28 device), but I don't care too much about the speed of the data, prefer to have more area covered (plus we don't have Band 28 capable phones anyway).

        I've been with both in the past.
        Some areas TW coverage is better, others Optus is better. On average, roughly the same.
        It's no coincidence that the % coverage claimed by TW is VERY close the the claimed coverage provided by Optus, I'm certain it's a marketing ploy to take customers from Optus.

        the ALDI $249 deal looks excellent though.

        We'll be going with Coles I think.
        $10 for my wife (she uses very little data, 1Gb will be heaps)
        $20 for me
        a total of $312.86/year (average of $13/month/person)

        • +1

          Coles $10 only lasts 10 days doesn't it.

        • @Costanza:
          Crap you're right… bugger!
          Jeenee Mobile $10 1Gb and $14.95 1.5Gb (20% more data if you go on a plan)

  • Yup its dead… should have stayed on my old price netflix plan $11.99. Upgraded to premium and now the standard plan is 13.99 :(

  • Is premium SMS still working?

  • This bit.

    Does the change affect all content?
    No. If you have existing subscription services, or you add new subscriptions before 3 December, they will still appear on your Telstra bill or if you are a pre-paid customer, they will continue to be debited from your pre-paid account.

    From here

    Certainly implies the subs should still be working, wonder if it's worthwhile hitting them up?

    • Subscriptions still work.. Google Play Billing does not, at least not for Prepaid.

      These will also still be charged to your Telstra bill;
      GooglePlay (post-paid customers only)

      (emphasis added)

      There's a list of stuff you can subscribe to at the bottom of the page… Unfortunately you're unlikely to want to subscribe to any of it.

      • Subscriptions still work.. Google Play Billing does not, at least not for Prepaid.

        Separating SMS subscriptions and Google Play subscriptions I guess makes that make sense, but that then means that they haven't notified us of ending Google Play subscriptions, only the SMS subscriptions.

        • The SMS I received was separated into 2 sections as I read it.
          First section stating pretty clearly (to my eyes) that Google Play Billing would stop (alternative - non Carrier Billing - payment methods would continue to work on Google Play) including for Subscriptions .
          "… ,however the current arrangement where a subscription for third party content is debited from your pre-paid balance, will end."
          (emphasis added)
          The second section stating that existing subscriptions for "third party mobile content" would continue.

          Despite being very specific that Google Play Subscriptions were to cease, people have read the second section as meaning they would continue. I've been skeptical all along, if only cause I can't see how Telstra would see any difference between a Google Play Billing event for an App, Book, Movie or subscription.. Let alone determine whether a subscription was old or new.
          I think they'd all just all be undefined Google Play Invoices, so if App purchases are stopped, all purchases must stop.

        • @scubacoles: When I actually take the time to read it properly then you are right, time to look for a new plan for when I have used up the 10gb of extra data.

        • @tryagain:

          Apparently Microsoft store billing still works.
          If you have the skills, put an app up there and buy it off yourself every month!

          Too much hassle for me, unless others can find better the Coles Offer looks good… my username (kinda) checks out too! :-)

        • @scubacoles: What network is coles on? I will be jumping ship if this is fully confirmed but would prefer the Telstra network (as all other networks suck here in Tasmania)

        • @tassieeagle:
          Coles is on Optus. The 35 day expiry is the kicker for them.. equates to 10.4 billing "months" per year versus the 28 day billing cycle, 13 billing months per year of most of the others.

          If you need full Telstra network, you've only got the choice of Telstra or Boost (note that Boost has 28 day billing cycles, but like Telstra prepaid, these can apparently be extended to the full month if you set up Auto Recharge)

        • @scubacoles: Thanks, will double check the coverage and ask around about optus. I hate messing around changing stuff like this but there is no way I am staying with Telstra if subscriptions also no longer work, it just is very poor value for money in every other sense.

        • @tassieeagle:
          Yeah, I think they'll lose a lot of customers, but they probably weren't making money from us anyway, so no great loss to them!

          Ask about Telstra Wholesale coverage too. (ie Woolies Mobile, ALDI, Telechoice). The WHolesale network is nowhere near as vast as the Full Tesltra network and is roughly equivalent to the Optus coverage. In some places better, in others worse.

        • @tassieeagle:

          Not sure which area in Tas you're in, but my experience (although admittedly from some years ago) was that Vodafone and Optus were fairly similar in Hobart, certainly very good in immediate Hobart and surrounds, a little more patchy in regional areas though. Looking at Vodafone network map, coverage in the North-East and West Coast areas is basically non-existent.

          Optus' coverage map shows slightly better regional coverage and it looks like they're actually doing a bit of regional upgrade work at the moment, worth keeping an eye on and checking for your area.

          Telstra wholesale coverage seems to be excellent in Tas, going off anecdotes from people I know - seems to be minimal difference (if any, practically) to the full Telstra network.

        • +1

          @raisinberry777: Thanks for the info. I definitely would not go Vodaphone, their coverage is terrible. It's a shame too because there main call centre is here and I know people who work there and would love to support local jobs but I can't when they can't even get coverage right in their base state.
          So it is between Optus and Telstra. Preference is to stay on Telstra network but if Optus is comparable and cheaper I'm happy to go with an Optus reseller.
          I think I am in a similar boat to you scubacoles. I only need a plan that has unlimited calls/sms and about 1 GIG data. Obviously 30+ days recharge would be good too. For the lowest price. The coles deal is sounding pretty good if I can verify that Optus is ok. Might even get some sort of flybuys bonus incentive for signing up.

        • @tassieeagle: So I'm thinking maybe trying out Amaysim. https://www.amaysim.com.au/plans/mobile-plans/unlimited-xsma… Pretty cheap deal for $10 a month, covers my needs.
          Might try and pick up a SIM today from this deal - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/346582

        • @tassieeagle:

          Bugger as highlighted above the Coles $10 plan is not 35 days expiry.

        • @scubacoles: Yeah that's why I'm thinking Amaysim for $10. The coles deal at $20 is still good value but not sure I need the data

        • @scubacoles: Not bad, but contract and has a $10 start up fee. My thinking behind the Amaysim deal is it isn't a contract so I can try it for a month and if the coverage is terrible I can just find a Telstra MVO to port to without too much hassle and expense.

        • @tassieeagle:
          Yeah fair logic in your situation.

        • @scubacoles:
          Would Netflix work?

      • With post paid, does it give you an extra $ credit that you can use to buy things from play store? If yes, I might jump to post paid. I love my play store subscriptions already :(

        • No. any Carrier Billing expenditure is added on top of your monthly commitment.

  • Ugh, my Netflix got cancelled. So it's confirmed that if I'm on PREPAID, even though I was signed up before Dec 3, carrier billing is over?

    • it's sounding that way. Similar things being said over on Whirlpool as well https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2602974&…

    • Go to payments.google.com

      Click Manage for your Netflix subscription, and then View Transactions.

      What does it say?

      • It says "Telstra" and my phone number, but I just received a notification from the Play Store on my phone that I would need to select a new payment method. On the Play Store app, the carrier billing is there, but it has red text and is not selectable.

        EDIT: Sorry, wrong thing. Basically it says 'Declined' over and over again.

        • Is there any chance you spent close to $500 this month in trying to drain your credit?

        • @uggugg: No but I wonder if it was because I changed my plan from the 13.99 to the 17.99 on Saturday night?

  • +2

    So I think barring a reversal, it's safe to say it's dead. Looks like even Telstra CS reps found the wording confusing though.

    https://www.facebook.com/Telstra/posts/10155317724439315

    and

    https://www.facebook.com/Telstra/posts/10155317786509315?com…

    • Maybe all of us should complain!

      • Don't think it would make any difference to the end result, unfortunately.

  • Well crap, my motor trend on-demand subscription declined today. It's been set up for years billing to Telstra. Guess they lied about the existing subscriptions still working

    • -1

      No, just many people ignored the actual text that was explicit about Google Play Billing being killed off (except for Post Paid) and read something else into the meaning of the secondary notification that mobile content subscriptions would continue.
      Go re-read the SMS that was sent to you. The first 3/4 of it is all about Google Play Payments being killed…

      • +1

        Hi. From 3 December 2017, you'll no longer be able to make purchases in Google Play using your pre-paid account. You'll still be able to purchase Google Play content using alternative payment methods, however the current arrangement where a subscription for third-party content is debited from your pre-paid balance, will end. If you attempt to set up carrier billing in Google Play from 3 December 2017, you will receive an error message. This change does not affect any existing third party mobile content subscriptions you currently have charged to your Telstra Pre-Paid account. To
        apologise for any inconvenience, we've added a 10GB data pack to your account valid for 28 days. For more info on the changes visit: Telstra.com/premiumsmschanges

        This is the only notification I've ever received regarding this…. And i still can't fully understand how to read it to get your reading of it…. At best it's confusing… At worst its misleading

        • The statement where it says "however the current arrangement where a subscription for third-party content is debited from your pre-paid balance, will end" is wrong and that's only because of the comma after balance. Other than that, where it mentions existing third party mobile content, it's referring to this stuff which I wasn't aware of prior to receiving this text.

        • The only confusing part is the

          ", will end"

          the comma makes no sense at this point of the sentence. It's a grammatical error that can be ignored.

          I think it's pretty clear from the very first sentence…

          From 3 December 2017, you'll no longer be able to make purchases in Google Play using your pre-paid account.

          They go on to explain that you can still use Google Play Billing using other payment methods (eg a Credit Card linked to your Google Account, or Google Play Gift Cards) and then reinforce that you can use your Pre-Paid Balance to pay.

          The final bit is marginally confusing but only if you go in with a wishful thinking mindset and the link clears up any confusing by quite explicitly stating that Google Play Billing will continue for Post Paid only.

  • Has anybody left telstra yet? I am wondering what happens to the 200GB Onedrive space from Telstra once you leave

    • Once it processes, and assuming you are above the default OneDrive storage given (not sure what that is) you won't be able to ADD or EDIT new files, but will still be able to access them, or DELETE them to get back to the free limit.

  • hey guys, just checking with everyone that are looking at alternatives like boost, coles, woolworths and aldi. do all of them allow carrier billing?

    • No other carrier does it for prepaid included in your recharge

      • damn!!! i was wondering if there were all these alternatives why didn't people jump ship. now it makes sense =( sad day for all

  • The topic states this now

    IT WILL ALSO NOT AFFECT ONCE OFF PURCHASES; FOR EXAMPLE - IN-GAME OR APPS THAT COST MONEY.

    Has anyone tried it since? Based on that it means I should still be able to purchase woowoowisdom going forward

  • RIP 🤤😲😢

  • +1

    I think Telstra found an excuse to stop us from taking advantage of the Freedom Plus deal and get away with it legally. I wasted my last voucher the night before expiry and will got to Amaysim as soon as my 28 days are up. I am going to miss all my free legal music and books. :'(

    • It's not just Freedom Plus, I'm on a plan well before that, same problem now, doesn't work except for some random books… Prepaid Cap Encore.

      • Yup, I was on the prepaid cap encore & stick with it despite the terrible data allowance for the carrier billing.
        Time to find a better plan

        • Yeah, problem for me is, I stocked up on Recharge Vouchers when Coles had 20% off - I've got about a years worth.. I can't see any option but sticking with Telstra Prepaid until they run out?

  • +2

    So I've managed to set up payments to G2A Wallet using Boku, then withdraw to Paypal. Lose about half in the conversion from phone credit to cash. Is it worthwhile keeping the plan for this if it keeps working?

    • If you value the network coverage and it works out cheaper than Boost then maybe.

      • Between Boost and Telstra, there's no advantages with Telstra since my dual-sim phone is most likely not receiving 4GX fully (according to reports) and I can't access HD Calling etc. I'm probably looking at Woolworths Mobile, which has less coverage.

        Is it worthwhile keeping for Windows Store carrier billing? I read that would still continue.

        • +1

          SO you don't value the extra coverage… therefore likely no.
          Any credit you can spend in Windows store (I'm guessing not much) is likely possible to be saved by moving to a MVNO

    • That's good news. Would you mind giving a little more detail about setting this up? I have about $100 credit left in my account and if I could get $50 cash I'd be laughing ;)

      • +1

        Here is what I wrote for someone else. It was done by trial and error. I'm also unsure if you need to try to use G2A first before boku to retrieve your PIN.

        1. Visit https://customer.boku.com/login and put your mobile in to retrieve a PIN code (keep a record of this to log in) - I think this activates your mobile to be able to use boku, but unsure.

        2. Create a G2A Pay account https://pay.g2a.com/. Register your phone number there.

        3. Download the G2A Android app

        4. In the app, add funds to your wallet and pay by mobile (boku). This did not work in the browser for me.

        5. Play around with some amounts and it will tell you how much will end up in your wallet vs how much mobile credit will be charged. When you execute it will send sms to verify and then proceed to transfer a number of smaller amounts.

        6. You can then withdraw to Paypal. It charged me 1 EUro to link them up, I think it's a verification charge. Took a day to get into PayPal.

        • +2

          Hi all,

          To add on to marquise's fantastic guide, Boku's charges ranges a different percentage on how much you transfer.

          Minimum amount is $2, maximum is $29. Any lower or higher, and Boku won't appear as an option.

          The best return rate is 58%, by requesting $29 (and Boku will charge $50). The worst return is 46.1%, by requesting 3 (and Boku charged $6.50).

          G2A will charge another pro-rata rate for withdrawals, which is basically 1 EUR + 1% of the withdrawal amount. Meaning to withdraw $50, it would cost 1.50 EUR (and you get 48.50 EUR).

          So if you withdrew AUD29 from Boku and took it out of your G2A account, you would get AUD27.13 from your original AUD50, a total best return rate of 54%.

          Hope this helps :)

        • Thanks heaps for this. I can log into Boku but I can't get the Boku option to show when adding funds in the G2A app on my Android. I'll keep trying.

          Edit: Got it working! Boku option only appears for $AUD28 and below.

        • @macmine:

          Thanks. Very helpful info.

          Edit: See message above. Might be that exchange rates have change but Boku option is only working for me for amounts of $AUD28 and below (still costs $50 though).

        • Thanks for the info, I created G2A account first and select "add fund" for AU$28 using Boku :)

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