Got an email from Telstra a short time ago that my mobile plan will be increasing from $65 to $70/month representing close to a 10% increase. From memory, this is the second mobile increase in about 12-18 months, and potentially the 3rd in the space of 3-4 years.

First thought was "well that sucks", second thought was "can I do anything about it?" Unfortunately the answer to the latter is no - I work remotely in WA and we rely on Telstra's network at site, it's pretty standard for all mine sites to only have Telstra reception which does give them a bit of a monopoly on the WA 'FIFO' workforce.

Telstra seem to be exercising some pricing power for their mobile plans, this may (will) cause some people to switch to cheaper options that may not rely on their coverage network. I imagine TLS will also be doing the same for internet and other areas of the business.

Anyway, enough whining, taking a (very) superficial look at their numbers, I nearly fell off my chair when I saw that their SP was up ~16% YTD and a whopping ~37% over the last year. Yes, yes, yes we invest for longer than that, but still I was surprised. Their PE is 32! All this suggests that the market is either pricing in more growth on the back of their transformation which they went through in the last 12 months or so (if I recall correctly).

To justify a PE this high, they'd need to dramatically increase earnings - revenue would need to grow to $45-$57B at current margins of approx. 7%. OR they improve margins above approximate historical levels of 7% OR, convince the market that there is high growth potential to attract a higher price.

High price to pay for a blue-chip "boomer" stock.