End of Cheap Boost Deals? Telstra Acquires Boost Mobile in $200m-Plus Deal

50centscheaper on 02/12/2024 - 10:43
Last edited 02/12/2024 - 11:08 by 1 other user

Telstra is acquiring Boost Mobile for over $200 million. With Boost’s prepaid SIMs being one of the best value options out there, I’m worried this deal might mean the end of their cheap plans. What do you think—are we about to see prices go up?

The purchase is set to go through this month, and is for an undisclosed sum – though EFTM understands it to be less than the $200 million quoted in financial media.

Telstra’s Consumer boss Brad Whitcomb said this was all part of Telstra’s Multi-Brand strategy “Boost Mobile has been a fantastic partner of Telstra for 13 years and this acquisition cements just how much we value the Boost brand. We know Boost branded products are a fantastic option for those seeking more affordable mobile connectivity and we are committed to providing that choice in the market,”

Outspoken Boost Mobile Chairman and founder Peter Adderton said in the announcement “Telstra has been an incredible partner to the Boost mobile family and, more importantly, to our customers – for more than 13 years. This acquisition of Boost is the natural evolution of the brand, and I am excited to see how the brand will continue to grow under Telstra’s ownership. The team at Boost are the best in the business and I wish them all well on the next part of Boost Mobile’s journey”.‘

Importantly, Telstra say there will be no changes for customers with Boost branded prepaid plans, while “most” Boost Mobile employees will be integrated into Telstra as a stand-alone team.

https://eftm.com/2024/12/breaking-telstra-buys-boost-mobile-…

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  • 4
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Comments

  • Neoika on 02/12/2024 - 10:47
    +5

    The prices have been already increased on the 22 Oct.

  • MS Paint on 02/12/2024 - 10:59
    +4

    Link is useless as it's paywalled. Not that I would bother to read it anyway.

    • Twix on 02/12/2024 - 11:09
      +3

      Link updated.

    • CodeXD on 02/12/2024 - 12:58
      +4

      Laughs in bypass paywall clean firefox extension

      • MS Paint on 02/12/2024 - 13:09

        I used 1ft.io for years with success. When that died I just gave up paywalled sites and news in general.

        • Subere on 02/12/2024 - 13:14

          Is that the same as 12ft.io?

      • TeamSAXON on 03/12/2024 - 12:30

        Laughs in archive.io

  • Protractor on 02/12/2024 - 11:04

    Par for the course.Wait till someone else does all the heavy lifting,marketing,establishing the client base, then acquire,milk,destroy.
    It's a yes from me.Higher prices,more 'catches' less choice, shit support.

    • Ocker on 02/12/2024 - 11:49

      Isn't that the way big business operates?

      • Protractor on 02/12/2024 - 12:27
        +4

        Some do, but when you got the free kicks Telstra did, your work is 90% done. It's basically Howards gift of shareholder VS the people who actually owned,built and dependent on affordable and open communication. It's like being blackmailed by your own family.

        • Ocker on 02/12/2024 - 16:24

          Same applies to all government owned enterprises that have been privatised.

          • Protractor on 02/12/2024 - 16:32
            +2

            @Ocker: Telstra has made it an art form, where along with the blackmail component they add a bit of lemon to the salt in the wound.
            That said, APost should still be in govt hands. Right now it's feral.
            When shit is 'privatized' every reg tax payer at the time of the change should receive shares, or leave it in govt hands.
            By default, Howards decision had the added effect of giving us the crap NBN model we have now.
            He did it for no other reason than to shift a massive lump of Australians onto the other side (his) of the ideological ledger. We have pretty much been a growing us and them economy ever since.
            Howards gun buyback was his best achievement. Albeit the expansion of gun numbers since, has undone much of that.

            • Ocker on 02/12/2024 - 16:38
              +1

              @Protractor: I thought it was the Labor Party that introduced the NBN?

              • Protractor on 02/12/2024 - 17:55

                @Ocker: Cute.
                The concept yes, the 'actual' cluster fvck was an LNP unmitigated disaster we are locked into permanently.
                Pretty sure even the flies on the wall know that.

                • Ocker on 02/12/2024 - 19:45
                  -4

                  @Protractor: Will all dyed-in-the-wood Labor voters please stand up

                  • Protractor on 03/12/2024 - 00:26

                    @Ocker: Historical facts aren't your forte dude. Guessing you weren't born here.

                    • RockyRaccoon on 03/12/2024 - 07:45
                      +2

                      @Protractor: While on Historical facts, keep in mind it was Keating working under Beazley who .

                      Opened up the Telco market to competitors to the then runTelecom. (Telstra) by giving Optus a licence via the sale of the governments Aussat to the BT/Bell/Mayne consortium . So in effect giving up the monopoly that Telstra (Telecom) had.

                      At that time they setup for full open market access a few years later, (Vodafone), so while not directly selling Telstra they sold off much of its market capability/value.

                      Ex Treasurer/PM Keating is reported also to make $30-40 million out of boost sale. Guess being at the right place etc pays dividends.

                      • Protractor on 03/12/2024 - 09:32

                        @RockyRaccoon: Interesting adjuncts, Rocky.
                        Keating didn't flog off Telstra. ( CBA,maybe) Howards actions where the NBN misery and Hellstra was born.Telstra has only increased it's control of the market and direction of communications to it's own advantage and not to that of consumers.Who built the MFs. Howard also created & validated xenophobia (using our own armed forces) and greed and it is now the stock & trade of the LNP.

                        • RockyRaccoon on 03/12/2024 - 16:07

                          @Protractor: If you can see past your political BS that you tend to espouse at every opportunity, you might just look at what really happened.

                          If Telstra had 100% of the market that it did under its Telecom days. Removing that monopoly by giving half its business (or more or less) away meant that the instead of being in control of the Telecommunications sector then it is just as much a "gift" as you claim Howard made. Howard just sold the other half of the governments telecommunications business.

                          And giving that away they created the Future fund, that is now being used to create Australian jobs - or is now claimed it will.

                          Was it right to sell Telstra - I guess you believe it wasnt, I am a little on the fence. But to rant and rave about the LNP or whoever as the total bad guys here is fundamentally wrong.

                          As for who you want to vote for, thats great. Just dont get caught up in the BS that everything is just Red/Green Black/White etc. Its all degrees and in this case there is some responsibility by both parties as to the carve up of the Telecomms business.

                          One other aspect that us here at ozbargain appreciate, in that competition has been good, telecoms charges have dropped dramatically since Keating gave away Telecoms monopoly.

                          • Protractor on 03/12/2024 - 16:43

                            @RockyRaccoon: I'm not doubting bipartisan implication and impact. But (again) Howard flogged off Telstra. For short term gain,and to sow the seed of division via his class war crap. [ That said, The ALP are now just fluffers for the US war machine, with the LNP cheering them on. So they are a lost (sold out) cause.You only have to see the last minute sell out in the senate to see how same same both parties are.] So I can see all colours in that political rainbow , but most are melded into the grey of self and vested interests. The greens are hollow, ALP shallow,ON deranged,LNP out of their minds or leaqgue, I'm not sure.
                            Back to the pos that is Telstra.
                            The result of 'cheaper' telecom prices (your point) is moot as long as Telstra holds a virtual network monopoly they can lean on. Optus is falling way behind. Telstra share holders rake it in, as consumers suck it up. The lack of coverage in the country is down to Telstra.They hog the black-spot cash, but don't share the towers, nor do they upgrade unless it's for more $$$.
                            Todays Telstra is no friend of those who made them, nor need them. If either side was fair dinkum on 'telecoms', nobody would get 5G until 4G was universal.Let's call it incentivising growth. But Telstra (the little Johnny version), won't spend until forced to, and then drag their arse. Having Boost in Telstras craw can only go one way. Less choice,higher prices and in no way adding any competitive element.

                            The way and the when and the why of Telstras sale is the big factor, that lead to this cul de sac.
                            (inc the shittest model of national broadband for a country like ours) And that is down to Howard and the LNP who followed.

                            • RockyRaccoon on 03/12/2024 - 17:46

                              @Protractor: Just a last single point. If The government owned the Telecoms market, ther is no guarrantee they would do it efficiently. Remember the same political parties you decry would run it. For interest look up the COT cases - known as the casualties of Telecom, where people were mistreated by this government owned operation.

                              Governments can screw customers as much as any robber baron.

                              As for the NBN - it was fkd from its day of inception. The promise was always too good to be true. Remember it was birthed on a napkin, and we have cried into it ever since. The NBN spent 10-15K and two weeks digging a trench laying cable to my house as one of the first (100K only had nbn by then) and that was 7 years after it was promised. This was just as the government changed. So the first 7 years under govt ownership and it failed to deliver most of the country any NBN when was when it was originally planned to be completed.

                              So dreaming that it would have been better is just fanciful.

                              • Protractor on 03/12/2024 - 17:56

                                @RockyRaccoon: Thankyou Malcolm Turnbull and that incompetent snake oil selling yank parasite who ran NBN.
                                Timing is everything.
                                I disagree with you on what the 'actual' infrastructure and design of a NBN would have looked like under Telstras (Telecom) umbrella, (who had the staff,tech and infrastructure to lead the race in Oz) and then maybe it could have been flogged off. 'Equitably'.

                                (and I'm talking about the knowledge base etc, of the Telecom of the day )

                                Some things should be in govt hands. But the LNP see themselves as fingers and everything that we need and need to work well, as a pie.Then they maul it to death.

                    • Ocker on 03/12/2024 - 17:23

                      @Protractor: Guessed wrong, like most of your "facts" are

                      • Protractor on 03/12/2024 - 17:40
                        -1

                        @Ocker: Then you should have your memory checked

  • pegaxs on 02/12/2024 - 11:18
    +3

    Boost lost me when they went to "28 day" plan roll overs.

    • SnowDragon on 02/12/2024 - 11:22
      +1

      Maybe they're trying to make the 28 days x 13 months happen.

      • pegaxs on 02/12/2024 - 11:27
        +6

        Well, when the whole world moves over to a 28 day month, I'll consider coming back to Boost. Until then, if I pay for a month, I want a month… not 28 days so they can slip another month in per year.

        • Subere on 02/12/2024 - 13:15
          +1

          Yeah I remember Optus doing that years ago on their prepaid.

    • JimB on 02/12/2024 - 12:11

      Why not just go 12 month?

  • poor_me on 02/12/2024 - 11:25
    +12

    They were so intertwined I thought Boost was already owned by Telstra. Like a Qantas-Jetstar kinda thing.

  • Protractor on 02/12/2024 - 11:27
    +9

    Telstra say there will be no changes for customers

    Sure. And I drive better when I'm pissed.
    Telstra also said that expand 4G in the regions. Lie after lie. There's as many black-spots now as there were ten years ago, and less overall connectivity now they killed 3G. As usual they are preying on commercial and city 5G, and the rest can suck it up.When is the senate going after the Telstra cash cow, like they did with the supermarket duopoly? (I guess when all the pollies ditch them free shares, ergo never)

  • BargainMe on 02/12/2024 - 11:41
    +2

    They might as well just merge Belong with Boost now

  • bazingaa on 02/12/2024 - 12:01
    +1

    they have already removed cheaper 365 day plans, useless now

  • JimB on 02/12/2024 - 12:10
    +1

    I just paid $270 (via ebay) for the $300 265gb 12 month SIM.

    Hopefully they won't increase the price too much.

    To be honest, if it increased to say $350, I still wouldn't switch and Telstra knows most of their existing customers won't either.

  • relentless on 02/12/2024 - 12:51

    Hopefully someone else takes their place.

  • Bignudge on 02/12/2024 - 13:07

    I've held my wife off Boost Mobile for a months now. We started off with Amaysim's 28 day plan for $10 via 7/11's app. (and planned to port back into Boost after it expires).

    Then as it nearly ran out, they offered another 3x renewals for $10 each with like unlimited calls and ~50GB of data.

  • moo on 02/12/2024 - 17:58

    Suddenly Vodafone or Optus looks quite appealing…or maybe not? =)

  • zztrader on 02/12/2024 - 18:53

    The news said the Telstra was purchased for $140 Million and that customers on Prepaid Plans wont be affected.

    Brief news clip on sky news aus, https://youtu.be/27ZljE04WSA

    Hope they keep it as its worth the branding as mentioned on the link plus any previous sim changes I experienced previously seemed to feel like aTelstra Bot or staff on chat acting like Boost agents anyway. Could be wrong but time will tell.

  • JIMB0 on 02/12/2024 - 19:47
    +2

    All this time I thought Telstra already owned it. The same account works for both and I remember seeing boost services in my Telstra account.

    • wavesgreen on 02/12/2024 - 22:59

      Services were administered by Telstra, sales/marketing by Boost.

  • RockyRaccoon on 03/12/2024 - 07:25

    Based on rumours from some ex Telstra employees. Note - Rumours can mean its inaccurate speculation hence the rest is speculation based on those rumours.

    Telstra had a deal with Boost (Ex PM Keating had a large share - reported by some as worth $30-40M) as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator - which means it used the Telstra network not its own). It's always been strange only Boost had this feature.

    That deal could have given Boost the exclusive as a MVNO to the complete Telstra network that others like Aldi/Woolworths etc cant get access to.

    If I were Aldi and Woolworths I wouldn't be overly pleased about being limited to a subset of the Network, especially now Optus and Vodafone are combining their network access. These players are big so any move they made to switch networks would have big impacts.

    Bringing in Boost to Telstra by buying out the previous owners means that restriction (if it exists) can be removed.

    Again - while plausible speculation, it is speculation.

    • bdl on 03/12/2024 - 11:20

      JB Hifi mobile still has full access as an MVNO on the 'complete Telstra network'. Will be interesting to see if the Boost acquisition changes that.

      • BargainBenno on 03/12/2024 - 12:28
        +1

        I think it will. Telstra are making jb hifi customers like me who took out a jb hifi plan for 99 a month just over a year ago which ended up being a Telstra plan move across to a jb hifi branded plan with different terms and conditions. This will allow Telstra to reduce the priority of my data service and make me a second rate client. I have worked for Optus in Sydney in the past and I know that the carriers put priority on traffic based on how much each client has paid. So a Telstra client is going to get better data bandwidth than a boost. Just like Optus give amaysim clients lower priority than their own Optus mobile client.

        • JIMB0 on 04/12/2024 - 09:54

          I was at a festival on the weekend. Belong wouldn't load a webpage at all while Telstra worked fine.

  • plapic on 03/12/2024 - 07:58

    And I, for one, welcome our new Boost overlords. I'd like to remind them as a trusted Telstra personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground OzBargain caves.

  • bargain ben on 03/12/2024 - 08:37
    -2

    I wouldn’t have thought that the ACCC would approve this acquisition?

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