Telstra launches new Plus rewards program

Telstra formally launched its new rewards program, Telstra Plus, on Tuesday as part of its Telstra2022 strategy.

The new program is the successor to the telco's now-discontinued Telstra Thanks program.

Since announcing Telstra Plus last month, over 370,000 Telstra customers have opted into the rewards program. Only Telstra customers who opt-in will partake in the rewards program.

All customers that sign up to Telstra Plus will be put into one of three tiers -- member, silver, and gold. Customers are allocated into tiers depending on their average monthly Telstra bill for the previous 12 months. 

Members at every tier will receive discounted movie and sports tickets, which were also a part of the previous Telstra Thanks program. 

From 28 May onward, Silver members will be entitled to one Telstra Platinum tech support call a year, as well as AU$75 worth of Telstra TV Box Office credit, while Gold members will have unlimited access to 24/7 tech support. 

Telstra Platinum tech support provides customers with assistance regarding Telstra services as well as other technical assistance "beyond Telstra", such as helping a customer log into their email, Telstra Consumer and Small Business executive Michael Ackland told ZDNet.

"A lot of customers have been with us for a long time and they wanted to be recognised for that, so first and foremost, it's about their recognition and saying thank you to customers," Ackland said. 

"The tiers are really important for us in terms of some of that recognition and the bonus points reflecting tenure."

Telstra Plus will also introduce a points-based rewards system, where customers receive 10 points for every dollar spent. The points can be redeemed at a Telstra Plus rewards store to collect various devices and accessories. For example, a Google Home Mini can be redeemed for 14,000 points. 

A device can also be redeemed through a combination of points and money, with a Telstra TV3 requiring 40,000 points and AU$115 to be redeemed.

"We want to give customers more good reasons to stay with us so the fact we have a points balance that you can spend with us is a positive reason to stay with us, as opposed to [giving you a] contract you cannot get out of, and yes unashamedly, we do want Australian families to bring all of their services to Telstra," Ackland said. 

Customers who join the rewards program before 30 June will have the opportunity to earn between 1,000 and 10,000 bonus points to kick-start their earning, Telstra said.

Business customers on Telstra will not be eligible, with the telco saying it may launch a similar program aimed at enterprises in the future.

Telstra also announced on Tuesday that the availability of Telstra TV will be expanded to mobile users, regardless of which internet service provider they use for their home broadband connection.

Also under its Telstra2022 strategy, the company flagged that it would unveil its long-touted simplified plans in June.

Last month, the telco also announced it was undertaking an upgrade and maintenance of its regional infrastructure.

"I understand the frustration this can cause, particularly where there are no other options. We are therefore expanding our regional maintenance plan further to address the primary sources of regional faults so we can provide a better, more reliable service for our customers," Telstra CEO Andy Penn said at the time.

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