Overview

• Federal Court imposed the A$18 million penalty after finding Telstra moved 8,897 Belong customers to lower upload-speed plans in October–November 2020 without informing them.
• The change halved maximum uploads from 40 Mbps to 20 Mbps while leaving 100 Mbps download speeds unchanged, the ACCC said.
• Telstra has provided or will provide A$15 credits per month on the lower tier, with total remediation exceeding A$2.3 million.
• Telstra has accepted the court’s findings and said it is completing remediation for one group of customers, according to a company spokesperson.
• The ACCC framed the case as a warning against misleading service changes, with the context that NBN Co’s 100/20 tier was about A$7 cheaper wholesale than 100/40, and the sector faces intensified governance scrutiny following recent Optus emergency call outages.