"Consumers are trapped in fixed term contracts that are not getting the premium service they signed up for," said Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey. Some listeners were particularly angry they had been encouraged to buy digital radios. Credit:Bloomberg "So if you are trapped in a fixed term Telstra contract ... log your outages, record your loss and take the fight up to Telstra to get out of your contract without penalty." Choice said it compared Telstra's products and services to equivalent or better offerings by rivals such as Optus. But a Telstra spokesman labelled Choice's analysis as "flawed", saying it "didn't tell the full story".

"Choice has not selected our most comparable plans and the analysis doesn't consider the elements our customers tell us are important, such as the breadth, speeds and availability of our network and the included extras," the spokesman said. Get your life in order with some smart apps. Credit:Glenn Hunt "The extras include free and unlimited access to Australia's largest Wi-Fi network, free AFL and NRL season passes, free home and mobile security protection, free streaming video service Telstra TV and free Apple Music on many plans." To come up with the 92 per cent "Telstra tax" figure, Choice compared Telstra's $115 "large broadband" product with 1000GB of data to TPG's $60 "basic bundle" with no data limit on 24-month contracts. Telstra chief Andy Penn has announced he would be redirecting $250 million in capital expenditure to improve the network infrastructure. Credit:Louie Douvis

But all Telstra bundle and broadband customers can double their monthly data allowance three times a year for free if required. Telstra also offers a 1000GB plan that costs $16 a month less and comes with Telstra TV and six months of streaming service Presto at no extra cost. Its Belong-branded plan is even cheaper. Choice's like-for-like comparisons of Telstra and its rivals' products. "The small number of examples they have used are not representative of the value we offer our customers," a Telstra spokesman said. After a series of outages, the telco giant has offered free data days and possible compensation on a case by case basis.

Hospitals have had to cancel operations, shoppers have had to pay with cash and bank customers have been unable to make some transactions. The latest outage occurred on June 30 and lasted more than six hours. Myer, Medibank, Monash University and Jetstar were among a host of major Telstra fixed-line customers hit by the outage. That outage came just 24 hours after Telstra boss Andy Penn announced a $250 million program to improve infrastructure. Mr Godfrey from Choice Telstra's "promised premium network" was a thing of the past. "There's only so much free data Telstra can offer before they have to admit their network is failing on a fairly regular basis," he said.

"By its own admission, Telstra claims its real point of difference isn't data limits or cost, but network quality. However, six months of network outages would suggest Telstra is a long way from offering a quality network." Competitors Vodafone and Optus have sought to capitalise on Telstra's troubles with various offers to entice customers to switch networks. Telstra has 16.9 million mobile customers, compared with 9.37 million at Optus and 5.44 million at Vodafone Hutchison Australia.