TELSTRA landline customers will collectively pay tens of millions of dollars more for short STD and overseas phone calls from the end of this month because of a new billing system.
Millions of Telstra customers have been notified of the changes, which involve a switch from charging per second for STD and international calls to charging in 30-second blocks.
The changes mean that when customers ring an STD or international number and then hang up because the call is answered by a machine, the customer will pay for 30 seconds instead of the few seconds charged at present.
Independent telecommunications analyst Paul Budde said that with an estimated 6 million landline customers and an average calling pattern that, due to the proliferation of voicemail and answering machines, meant between 20 and 30 per cent of all phone calls lasted less than 30 seconds, the billing changes could earn Telstra tens of millions of dollars.
"It's just another way for Telstra to boost revenue, there's no other explanation for it," Mr Budde said.
Under the existing billing system, a customer paying 20 cents a minute for an STD call would be charged five cents for a call lasting 15 seconds. Under the new system, the same 15-second call would cost twice that amount, as the minimum charge would be 10 cents for 30 seconds. A 35-second call previously costing about 12 cents will jump to 20 cents, because the consumer will be charged for a 60-second call.
Telstra has defended the move, saying the new system will bring greater consistency to its billing practices and bring landline call charges in line with existing charges on fixed-to-mobile calls, which were moved to the 30-second billing system late last year.
The executive director of consumer marketing at Telstra, Jenny Young, said most of the company's retail customers were on plans that contained STD caps, with deals such as $2 for up to three hours of talking on an STD call.
Another change by Telstra will make it harder for customers to forget they're even making a timed STD or international call. The long-standing five-beep signal heard at the beginning of most of Telstra-connected STD and international calls will be abolished at the end of this financial year.
Someone HAS to pay for the EXECUTIVE SALARIES (Telstra Chairman - We deserve our pay ), so it might as well be the public
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