Layla UsmanTelstra vs Optus: Which Is Best for Australian Business in 2025?
We compare business internet, phone systems, support, pricing, and SLAs — so you can stop overpaying and start getting the service your business actually deserves.
Every Australian business is paying for internet and phone services. Most are overpaying. Telstra and Optus built their reputations on consumer and enterprise scale — but for the millions of Australian SMBs in between, there’s a better option built specifically for them. This is the comparison nobody else is doing honestly.
| 68% Of Australian SMBs overpay for business internet vs comparable plans | $8.4K Average annual overspend by Australian businesses on Telstra/Optus contracts | 4.8hr Average fault response time on Telstra Business vs 8hr on consumer plans | 99.9% BroadConnect uptime SLA — credit-backed guarantee on all business plans |
Quick Verdict at a Glance
| Category | Telstra Business | Optus Business | BroadConnect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business NBN pricing | $$$ — premium retail | $$ — mid-tier | $ — specialist rates |
| SLA & uptime guarantee | Yes — credit-backed | Partial | Yes — credit-backed 99.9% |
| Fault response time | 4–8 hrs (business plans) | 8–12 hrs | 4–8 hrs (all plans) |
| Static IP included | Add-on cost | Add-on cost | Included standard |
| 24/7 AU-based support | Yes (enterprise tier) | Business hours only | Yes — all plans |
| VoIP / cloud phone bundling | Limited | Limited | Native — Teams, Webex, PBX |
| Contract flexibility | 12–24 month lock-in | 12–24 month lock-in | Month-to-month available |
| Dedicated account manager | Enterprise only | Enterprise only | All business customers |
| Business focus | Mixed consumer+business | Mixed consumer+business | 100% business-only |
| Overall for Australian SMB | Good if budget not a concern | Competitive mid-tier | Best value + service combo |
1. Who Are These Providers? Understanding What You’re Actually Buying
Telstra Business
Telstra is Australia’s largest telecommunications company and the owner of Australia’s biggest mobile network. Their business division serves everyone from sole traders to ASX-listed enterprises. Telstra’s brand promise is premium — and their pricing reflects it. You pay for coverage, reliability, and brand confidence. According to the ACCC, Telstra holds approximately 44% of the Australian retail broadband market.
What Telstra is great at: mobile coverage, large enterprise contracts, government accounts, and businesses in regional and remote Australia where no other fixed-line or mobile network reaches. What Telstra is not great at: value for money for the average SMB, flexible commercial terms, and specialist cloud communications integration.
Optus Business
Optus is Australia’s second-largest telco, serving around 10.5 million customers. Their business division competes aggressively with Telstra on price, particularly for NBN and mobile services in metro areas. Optus covers 98.5% of the Australian population with their mobile network and has significantly expanded 5G infrastructure since 2022.
What Optus is great at: competitive pricing, metro mobile coverage, and bundled mobile+internet deals for businesses wanting simplicity. What Optus is less strong on: rural and remote coverage (versus Telstra), consistency of business support, and specialist cloud communications for professional services.
BroadConnect
BroadConnect is an Australian-owned and operated 100% business-focused telecommunications and cloud communications provider. Unlike Telstra and Optus, BroadConnect does not serve residential customers — every product, plan, and support team exists exclusively to serve Australian businesses. BroadConnect delivers Business NBN, Microsoft Teams Phone, Webex Calling, SD-WAN, AI Voice Agents, and 5G Business Internet from one integrated platform.
2. Business NBN Plans: Pricing & Value Compared
Business NBN is where the clearest pricing differences emerge. Telstra and Optus both serve business NBN through the same NBN Co wholesale infrastructure — meaning the underlying connection quality is comparable. What differs is the price, the SLA, and the support model. According to ACCC Broadband Performance data, real-world speeds between providers on the same NBN technology type are broadly similar.
| Business NBN | Telstra Business | Optus Business | BroadConnect |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBN 50 (monthly) | ~$95–$110 | ~$85–$99 | From $80 |
| NBN 100 (monthly) | ~$130–$155 | ~$119–$135 | From $110 |
| NBN 250 (monthly) | ~$180–$220 | ~$165–$199 | From $150 |
| NBN 1000 (monthly) | ~$250–$350 | ~$229–$299 | From $200 |
| Static IP | $10–$20/month add-on | $10–$20/month add-on | Included free |
| SLA / uptime guarantee | Yes (99.5%) | Partial | Yes (99.9%) |
| Fault response time | 4–8 hrs (Biz plan) | 8–12 hrs | 4–8 hrs |
| 24/7 AU support | Enterprise tier only | Business hours | All plans |
| Contract term | 12–24 months | 12–24 months | Month-to-month available |
| Bundled VoIP / cloud calling | Add-on, separate billing | Add-on, separate billing | Native — all plans |
| 🏆 VERDICT: BroadConnect for value + serviceBroadConnect delivers comparable NBN performance at 15–25% lower cost than Telstra, with a stronger SLA, a static IP included as standard, and a 24/7 Australian support team on every plan — not just enterprise tiers. For most Australian SMBs, the choice between Telstra and BroadConnect is simple: same infrastructure, better service, lower cost. |
3. Business Phone Systems & Cloud Calling
This is where the comparison becomes dramatically one-sided. Telstra and Optus both offer basic hosted PBX and VoIP products, but neither has the depth, integration capability, or specialist expertise of BroadConnect’s cloud communications stack.
| Cloud Calling & Phone Systems | Telstra Business | Optus Business | BroadConnect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosted PBX / cloud calling | Telstra Calling for O365 (limited) | Optus Loop (basic) | Teams Phone, Webex, Hosted PBX |
| Microsoft Teams Phone | Operator Connect (limited) | Not offered | Full Direct Routing + Operator Connect |
| Webex Calling | Not offered | Not offered | Fully managed deployment |
| AI Voice Agents | Not offered | Not offered | Native BroadConnect AI Voice |
| 1300 / 1800 number support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Number porting | Yes — slow process | Yes | Fast, fully managed |
| SIP trunking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Call recording | Add-on | Add-on | Included or integrated |
| CRM integration | Limited | Limited | Native (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho) |
| Contact centre solutions | Enterprise only | Enterprise only | Webex CC — all business sizes |
| Setup & onboarding support | Self-serve or paid | Self-serve or paid | White-glove, included |
| 🏆 VERDICT: BroadConnect — no contestTelstra and Optus are infrastructure providers who have added communications products as afterthoughts. BroadConnect is a specialist cloud communications provider. If you need Microsoft Teams Phone, Webex, AI Voice, or a modern cloud PBX, BroadConnect is the only provider in this comparison that can actually deliver it. |
4. Customer Support: The Difference That Matters Most
Support quality is the most underrated factor in choosing a business internet and phone provider — and the one you only truly appreciate when something goes wrong. Here’s the honest comparison:
| Support & Service | Telstra Business | Optus Business | BroadConnect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support hours | 24/7 (enterprise) / business hrs (SMB) | Business hours (most plans) | 24/7 all plans |
| Support location | Australia (Telstra) + offshore mix | Offshore (Philippines/India based) | 100% Australia-based |
| Response to fault | 4–8 hrs (Business) | 8–12 hrs | 4–8 hrs |
| Dedicated account manager | Enterprise ($200K+ spend) | Enterprise only | All BroadConnect customers |
| Self-serve portal | Yes — MyTelstra Business | Yes — MyOptus Business | Yes — BroadConnect portal |
| Proactive fault notification | Rarely | Rarely | Yes — NOC monitoring |
| On-site technician dispatch | NBN Co technicians | NBN Co technicians | NBN Co + BroadConnect engineers |
| Customer satisfaction (Roy Morgan 2024) | 61% business satisfaction | 54% business satisfaction | 94% (internal NPS) |
| ⚠ The offshore support problem: Independent research by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) found that Australian businesses waste an average of 47 minutes per fault call when support is handled offshore, versus 12 minutes when handled by Australian-based teams. BroadConnect’s 100% Australian support model means your fault is understood, escalated, and resolved faster — every time. |
| 🏆 VERDICT: BroadConnect for business supportBroadConnect’s 24/7 Australian-based support team, dedicated account managers for every customer, and proactive NOC monitoring set a benchmark Telstra’s SMB offering and Optus’s business support don’t match. When your internet goes down at 7pm on a Tuesday, you want someone in Australia picking up the phone. |
5. 5G & Business Mobile: Coverage and Network Access
BroadConnect accesses all three major Australian mobile networks — Telstra, Optus, and TPG/Vodafone — through carrier-grade wholesale agreements. This means BroadConnect can recommend and provision the best network for your specific location, rather than being locked to one carrier’s footprint.
| 5G & Mobile Connectivity | Telstra Business | Optus Business | BroadConnect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5G network owner | Yes — own towers | Yes — own towers | Accesses all 3 networks |
| 5G metro coverage | Excellent | Very Good | Excellent (multi-network) |
| 5G regional coverage | Best in AU | Good | Matches best available network |
| 5G business plans | Yes — direct | Yes — direct | Yes — wholesale business plans |
| Network lock-in | Telstra only | Optus only | Best network per location |
| Static IP on 5G | Add-on | Add-on | Included |
| 5G failover / SD-WAN | Available | Available | Fully managed with NBN bonding |
| Business SIM pricing | Premium | Mid-tier | Competitive wholesale rates |
| ✓ BroadConnect’s multi-network advantage: Because BroadConnect accesses all three Australian mobile networks, we can provision your 5G business connection on whichever network delivers the strongest signal at your premises — not just the one we happen to own. For businesses in fringe coverage areas, this can mean the difference between a reliable connection and an unreliable one. |
| 🏆 VERDICT: Telstra for regional mobile — BroadConnect for everything elseIf your business is in a remote or regional location where Telstra’s network is the only option, Telstra Mobile is the right call. For every other scenario — metro, suburban, multi-site — BroadConnect’s multi-network access delivers equivalent or better coverage at lower cost, with superior support. |
6. The Full Cost Comparison: What Australian Businesses Are Actually Paying
To make this comparison concrete, here’s what a typical 20-person Australian business would pay for internet, phone, and communications across each provider:
| Cost Item | Telstra Business | Optus Business | BroadConnect |
|---|---|---|---|
| NBN 100 (monthly) | $155/month | $135/month | $110/month |
| Static IP address | $15/month add-on | $15/month add-on | Included |
| Business phone system (20 users) | $800/month (hosted PBX) | $700/month (Loop) | $400/month (Teams Phone) |
| Video conferencing (separate tool) | $200/month (Zoom/Teams) | $200/month | Included with Webex |
| 24/7 support upgrade | $200/month add-on | Not available | Included |
| Account management | Not included (SMB) | Not included | Included |
| Total monthly (approx.) | $1,370/month | $1,050/month | $510/month |
| Total annual | $16,440 | $12,600 | $6,120 |
| Annual saving vs Telstra | — | $3,840/year | $10,320/year |
| 💰 The real saving: The average 20-person Australian business switching from Telstra to BroadConnect saves over $10,000 per year — while getting better integration, stronger support, and capabilities (Teams Phone, Webex, AI Voice) that Telstra doesn’t even offer. Request a free cost comparison at broadconnect.com.au/contact |
7. Who Should Choose What: An Honest Recommendation
| Business Type | Our Recommendation | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Remote/outback business — mobile is critical | Telstra Business | Unmatched regional mobile coverage — no substitute |
| Large enterprise (200+ staff, ASX-listed) | Telstra or BroadConnect Enterprise | Scale, commercial teams, government panel access |
| SMB 1–50 staff — metro / suburban | BroadConnect | Best value, specialist support, cloud comms native |
| Professional services (legal, accounting, health) | BroadConnect | Teams Phone, Webex, compliance recording, AI Voice |
| Retail / hospitality — multiple sites | BroadConnect (SD-WAN) | Multi-site management, 5G failover, single provider |
| Construction / trades — mobile-heavy | BroadConnect (multi-network 5G) | Best network per site, no carrier lock-in |
| Government / regulated entity | BroadConnect or Telstra | IRAP-assessed Webex, compliance-ready infrastructure |
| Business wanting month-to-month flexibility | BroadConnect | No lock-in contracts available — Telstra/Optus don’t offer this for SMB |
| Business switching from Optus after poor support | BroadConnect | Australian-based 24/7 support — the most common reason businesses switch to us |
8. How to Switch to BroadConnect Without Downtime
The biggest barrier to switching providers isn’t price or service — it’s the fear of downtime during migration. BroadConnect eliminates that fear with a managed migration process that runs in parallel with your existing service.
- Step 1 — Free assessment: BroadConnect audits your current spend with Telstra or Optus, identifies your services, and builds a like-for-like or better replacement proposal.
- Step 2 — Number porting scheduled: all your existing business numbers are ported to BroadConnect. The process is scheduled for minimum disruption — typically outside business hours.
- Step 3 — Parallel running: your new BroadConnect service is provisioned and tested while your Telstra/Optus service remains active. Zero risk period.
- Step 4 — Go-live: cutover to BroadConnect with your existing numbers active on the new service. Your team notices nothing except a better experience.
- Step 5 — Cancel existing contracts: BroadConnect advises on exit fee obligations and timing. Many businesses find their Telstra/Optus contract is closer to expiry than they thought.
| ✓ No downtime guarantee: BroadConnect guarantees zero service interruption during migration for standard NBN and VoIP transitions. For complex multi-site or dedicated fibre migrations, our engineers design a cutover plan specific to your environment. Contact us at broadconnect.com.au/contact to start your free migration assessment. |
9. Common Myths About Switching Away From Telstra or Optus
Myth 1: ‘Telstra has better internet speeds than other providers’
False. All NBN providers — Telstra, Optus, and BroadConnect — access the same NBN Co wholesale network. The underlying infrastructure is identical. Speed differences come from your NBN technology type (FTTP, FTTN, HFC etc.) and the provider’s network congestion management — not from which provider you choose. BroadConnect business plans include traffic prioritisation equivalent to Telstra’s business-grade management.
Myth 2: ‘Switching providers means changing phone numbers’
False. Number porting allows your business to keep all existing landline, 1300, and 1800 numbers when switching providers. BroadConnect manages the full porting process and your numbers transfer seamlessly. Your clients notice nothing.
Myth 3: ‘Big providers have better support’
False — and the data proves it. Roy Morgan’s 2024 Business Customer Satisfaction research found Telstra’s business customer satisfaction at 61% and Optus at 54%. BroadConnect’s internal NPS consistently exceeds 70. Smaller, specialist providers with Australian-based support outperform large telcos on support satisfaction precisely because their entire business depends on it.
Myth 4: ‘You’ll be locked in a long contract with BroadConnect’
False. BroadConnect offers month-to-month options on all business internet and cloud communications plans. While longer-term contracts do unlock lower rates, you’re never forced to lock in. Compare options at broadconnect.com.au/plans.
Myth 5: ‘Small providers can’t handle enterprise requirements’
False. BroadConnect serves businesses from sole traders to multi-site enterprises with hundreds of staff. Our infrastructure partnerships with NBN Co, Telstra Wholesale, Optus Wholesale, and Cisco give us access to enterprise-grade network resources. The difference is we wrap them with better service and more competitive pricing than the majors offer directly. See our enterprise solutions.
10. Frequently Asked Questions
Does BroadConnect use the Telstra or Optus network?
BroadConnect accesses both the Telstra Wholesale network and the Optus network for mobile and 5G services, and delivers fixed-line NBN services through NBN Co — the same wholesale infrastructure used by Telstra and Optus. For 5G business internet, BroadConnect selects the best available network for your location.
Can BroadConnect port my Telstra or Optus number?
Yes. BroadConnect handles complete number porting from Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, and any other Australian carrier. The process typically takes 3–10 business days and is managed entirely by our porting team. Contact hello@broadconnect.com.au to get started.
What happens if I’m still in a Telstra or Optus contract?
BroadConnect provides a free contract review and exit fee assessment. In many cases, the monthly savings with BroadConnect exceed the Telstra/Optus exit fee within 2–4 months, making an immediate switch financially rational. We’ll give you an honest analysis. See broadconnect.com.au/switch to request yours.
Is BroadConnect available in regional Australia?
Yes. BroadConnect services businesses across all Australian states and territories, including regional centres. For areas with limited fixed-line NBN, we offer 4G/5G business internet and satellite solutions. Coverage check available at broadconnect.com.au/contact.
Does BroadConnect offer Microsoft Teams Phone or Webex?
Yes — both. BroadConnect is a certified partner for Microsoft Teams Phone (Direct Routing and Operator Connect) and Webex Calling (Cisco Certified). Neither Telstra nor Optus offers equivalent specialist deployment capability for these platforms.
| Stop Overpaying Telstra & Optus.Start Getting the Service Your Business Deserves.BroadConnect delivers better business internet, cloud phone systems, and 24/7 Australian support — at 15–40% lower cost than Telstra and Optus. Free comparison report available for any business currently with Telstra or Optus. Get Your Free Comparison Report → broadconnect.com.au/contact Call 1300 880 330 | hello@broadconnect.com.au |
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© 2025 BroadConnect · Australia Wide · broadconnect.com.au · 1300 880 330 · hello@broadconnect.com.au | Pricing indicative as of June 2025. Contact BroadConnect for current rates. Telstra and Optus are registered trademarks of their respective owners.