Australia’s biggest telephone company has finally responded to the cheap deals offered by tiny telcos by attempting to lure back customers.

And boy, is it a tempting offer.

Non-Telstra customers who already own their own phone can apply online to pay a paltry $40 for 7GB of data and $1000 worth of talk time.

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Best of all, the data works across 3G, 4G and 4GX.

Yes, this is a shameless attempt to lure you. Yes, Telstra sometimes has crappy customer service. But it cannot be denied the company has Australia’s best mobile coverage. In this age of social media and video streaming, that and price is really all that matters. If you’re interested, you have a “limited time” to apply (Telstra is yet to confirm the deadline).

The comparable big telco plan is Optus’ 7GB and unlimited talk time for $30 a month, which expires on November 29 and only lasts for six months before the price doubles.

Telstra’s generous offer suggests it has learned at least one lesson from the tiny telcos: Aussies are thirsty for cheap data, and lots of it.

“We’ve launched this offer in response to customers’ appetite for more data to do the things they love – like streaming videos, listening to music or sharing on social media,” a Telstra spokesperson told The New Daily.

What the company clearly hasn’t learned, according to an independent phone plan expert, is that Aussies also want freedom.

Granted, Telstra’s plan allows you to bring your own phone, but it still locks you in for 12 or 24 months – and the price goes up dramatically if the customer switches plans. Telstra is one of the last to attempt to push phone owners into these long, prepaid contracts.

“They want to lock you in for at least 12 months. I suppose their thinking is that after that time, you might be more loyal. But then if you switch over to their casual plan, the prices go up, the data goes down, the bonuses aren’t as generous,” WhistleOut editor Joseph Hanlon told The New Daily.

This is evidence that Telstra is not only learning from the “little guys”, but scared of them, Mr Hanlon said.

“Obviously, not only is Telstra concerned about the little guys, but they’re concerned about you switching to them at a later date,” he said.

One of the “little guys” that pioneered the march towards cheaper, better-value, no lock-in plans was Amaysim. Its entrance into the market four years ago pressured the big telcos and emboldened other small competitors.

Amaysim co-founder Gerard Mansour agreed that competition was “great” for Aussie mobile users, but declined to comment directly on whether Telstra was copying its approach.

“As a pioneer of the BYO handset model in Australia, it’s good to see people having more choice when it comes to SIM-only plans,” Mr Mansour told The New Daily.

What the Amaysim director did impliedly criticise was the big telcos’ determination to lock-in customers. (The trend among the tiny telcos is flexible one-month plans.)

“A nice-sounding headline price is one thing, but simplicity and the freedom to move between plans and providers as people see fit is just as important,” Mr Mansour said.

Those who take up the Telstra offer get to keep their 7GB data allowance once their 12- or 24-month contract expires. But the price then increases to $50 per month.