What a year it’s been! A lot has happened in the mobile industry since January so let’s recap the most impactful moments of 2023.
Nationwide Optus outage
We simply cannot ignore the most unfortunately memorable moment of the year, which took place only a month ago. Optus‘ nationwide outage lasted almost an entire day and has many still chasing some form of compensation beyond ‘extra data’.
Some customers were unable to operate their businesses, others were left stranded at airports without access to their ticket bookings and, in extreme cases, some were unable to call triple 0. This outage had such a domino effect that Telstra stores found themselves flooded by customers trying to get a new SIM just to get by.
While investigations continue as to why and how this happened on such a vast scale, we can only hope it was a one-off occurrence. The outage led to CEO Kelly Bayer-Rosmarin stepping down.
iPhones were converted to USB-C
It’s ludicrous to think 2023 would’ve resulted in iPhone and Apple announcements taking a backseat, but it happened. And that’s even with news as big as the long-rumoured confirmation of the Lightning connector’s demise.
That’s right. If you have a million USB-C charger cables hanging about, hold onto them because they’ll be responsible for powering up your new iPhone 15 or later models in the future.
ACCC blocks Telstra-TPG network sharing deal
If the technicalities were a little too much for you to follow at the time, let us simplify things and refresh your memory.
This argument started way back in 2021 when a $1.8 million deal was struck to allow TPG to access Telstra‘s mobile towers in regional areas. Essentially this would have increased its network footprint from 96% to 98.8% of the population.
Of course, Optus was not happy about this decision as it would have bested its own network coverage of 98.5% of the Australian population.
Officially the agreement was blocked due to its “negative impact on competition in the telco space”.
The prolific rise of mobile speed caps
Speed caps started to proliferate across the mobile industry in late 2022, and this trend has only continued in 2023. The number of telcos that introduced speed caps in 2023 was staggering.
Boost Mobile was first this year, introducing capped speeds to its plans, ranging between 150Mbps and 250Mbps, depending what plan tier customers signed up for.
By mid-year, Optus hopped aboard the bandwagon, introducing similar 150Mbps speed caps on most of its prepaid plans except its priciest $55 plan, which would be limited to 250Mbps. Its cheaper 5G options across Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) would also be limited to 100Mbps.
Then finally amaysim added speed caps of a slightly lower speed, between 100Mbps and 150Mbps to its 4G and 5G prepaid plans.
Interested in learning more?
Check out these news guides below that delve into the various telcos that introduced or tweaked their speed caps in 2023:
Telco price hikes
One major telco which issued plan major changes in 2023 was Vodafone. It removed its unlimited data plan and revamped its plans while simultaneously upping its prices. Vodafone notably increased its lowest priced plan from $40 to $45 per month without even adding extra data as compensation.
And it weren’t alone. Several other telcos followed suit justifying increasing prices as a means to continue providing the highest quality service possible due to their own rising operating costs.
Another such telco was Telstra which, in early July, gave its customers a rude awakening. Prices rose between $3 to $6 per month, depending on what plan you were on. Some Upfront Plans, such as the Basic and Bundles, did, however, added an extra 10GB of data to lessen the blow. Telstra’s prepaid plans also saw a price jump of between $2 and $20 and an increase of data between 1GB and 15GB.
Vodafone in-flight $5 roaming
Vodafone customers lucky enough to leverage its generous $5 roaming offer were upgraded to first-class this year. The telco announced it would allow customers to begin using the offering in-flight on selected airlines including, but not limited to, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Singapore Airlines.
Woolworths Mobile rebranded to Everyday Mobile and terminated handset sales
Ditching the green for its other trademark colour, orange, Woolworths Mobile became the mouthful that is Everyday Mobile by Woolworths in August of this year.
Plans, prices and inclusions remained the same, as did its 10% monthly shop discount. This announcement also coincided with the decision to ditch selling handsets both outright and on plans. This was unwelcome news to Samsung fans who chose Woolworths over the Big Three —Telstra, Optus and Vodafone — to get the latest Samsung Galaxy on a plan.
gomo shuts down mobile operations
Optus made headlines for another reason earlier this year by officially shutting down its budget telco, gomo.
Existing customers were encouraged to switch before mid-November when its auto-recharge service would be switched off and a special introductory offer was made to those willing to switch to Catch Connect. The gomo service was officially terminated on December 15.
