Telstra has admitted rigging a poll in which consumers were asked whether the Australian telco charged too much for Internet access.

Two hours after ZDNet Australia posted the question "Does Telstra's BigPond Internet service provide value for money?" 25 people said "no" with just one saying "yes".

Amazingly, half an hour later and the "yes" vote had soared to a whopping 287. According to ZDNet, the massive swing was traced back to Telstra.

The Aussie telco is now looking into the matter but insists this was not a "Telstra endorsed initiative".

Earlier week The Register contacted Telstra to comment on news from Australian broadband community site, Whirlpool, that Telstra is planning to raise broadband pricing sharply for residential broadband Internet users.

Curiously, we've yet to receive a reply. No doubt Telstra's PR team is far too busy handling this cock-up to respond. ®

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Telstra busted rigging user surveys