It’s been a wild ride for Boost Mobile when it comes to 5G, moving from saying it’s no good, to now offering 5G for all customers on a trial basis until September this year.
Fascinating really, and in part, and insight into the Boost brand.
Founder Peter Adderton told EFTM in February 2020 that 5G didn’t offer anything amazing for customers, and that he wouldn’t offer it until it did.
Then just a short while ago we broke the news that Boost was testing 5G for some customers.
Weeks ago Peter Adderton confirmed to EFTM that Boost was now offering 5G for customers on their highest cost plan, but that he didn’t recommend they pay for it.
His argument, in the EFTM Podcast, was that it should not be a premium product.
Well, from this week, Boost is rolling out 5G for all customers.
It’s a slow process, that could take a week or two, but from now until near the end of September, if you have a 5G handset, you’ll get 5G with Boost!
Boost says:
“From 30 May, we’ll be rolling out a 5G access trial for Boost customers. To be eligble for the trial you need to have an active recharge, a 5G compatible device and be in a 5G coverage area. The trial will run until 26 September 2022.”
So why the backflip?
Well, it could be spun as being a win for Boost because they are able to offer 5G to all customers no matter what they pay. That’s a good one for Peter Adderton.
But it could also be seen as Telstra doing what they want with the Boost network and customers, as Boost is more a sub-network of Telstra more than an MVNO as Aldi and Woolworths operate.
In essence, Boost is a marketing business, built to drive customers to a set of low cost deals on the Telstra network, allowing Telstra to grow it’s business without compromising their premium brand.
Whatever the case, Boost customers are getting 5G for a few months.
But in reality – can they really take it back?
How many customers are reading the Boost support site on this? Not many. So if Telstra and Boost don’t properly educate people that it’s a short term thing, they will get some backlash when it switches back to 4G.
My money is on it lasting for good now, bit hard to go backwards in a competitive world like Telcos.
Trev is a Technology Commentator, Dad, Speaker and Rev Head.
He produces and hosts two popular podcasts, EFTM and Two Blokes Talking Tech. He also appears on over 50 radio stations across Australia weekly, and is the resident Tech Expert on Channel 9’s Today Show each day and appears regularly on A Current Affair.
Father of three, he is often found down in his Man Cave.
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