NBN Co Agrees to Lower Entry-Level Pricing for Broadband Consumers

More and more people find that having an internet connection in their households is already essential, particularly because most of their daily activities are now done online, including retail transactions. However, having a reliable and stable internet connection can prove to be costly too, particularly for people who are after a high-speed connection to cater to their needs.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) wanted to ensure the well-being of consumers, which is why they prompted NBN Co to lower entry-level prices particularly for consumers who are satisfied with pre-NBN speeds. They also prompted NBN Co to promote competitive prices for higher speeds. Their goal is to promote the long-term interests of broadband consumers overall.

Standard Pricing

• Entry-level Speed Tier

NBN Co is proposing an entry-level bundle discount for people who only require a basic speed tier, as well as a fair data allowance. For voice-only subscribers, as well as consumers who use only limited data, the entry-level standard price starts at $22.50. The inclusion of this bundle is 150Kbps and in case this is exceeded, the additional charge is reduced to $5.70. However, this still comes with an additional CVC charge of $8 per Mbps. Rest assured that the additional charge is proposed to be further reduced to $4.90, up to $4.10 eventually.

While there has been a continuous call to remove the additional CVC charges, NBN Co deemed that this is still necessary to cover the cost of provisioning and dimensioning the network to accommodate the rise in the data consumption of users. 

• Mid-speed Tiers

NBN Co is looking into developing its NBN 50 service as its flagship plan, charging $45 a month for a 2Mbps bandwidth. In the long run, it is in the company’s plan to increase this inclusion to 2.25Mbps and eventually 2.5Mbps. Even the price of its 25/5 bundle is effectively reduced from $45 to $37, which already includes 1.25Mpbs of bandwidth. This capacity allocation will further be increased to 1.5Mbps in the future. 

• High-speed Tiers

There will be three main high-speed tiers which will have associated bundle discounts, namely the 100/20 bundle, 250/25 bundle, as well as the 1000/50 bundle. Thereby, if you are looking into upgrading your NBN plan, then this is the perfect time for you to do so. The reason behind this is that a 100/20 bundle with 3.75Mbps bandwidth charged for $58 a month will have an increased bandwidth allocation of 1.25Mbps. This means that in the future, the same bundle will already have a 4Mbps capacity included in the plan. 

In the same manner, the 250/25 bundle is set to have a capacity of 5Mbps for the same price of $68 per month. Like with the 100/20 plan, this is a 1.25Mbps increase, which makes it 32% cheaper. On the other hand, the 1000/50 bundle with an included capacity of 5.75Mbps will have an effective standardised price of $80 per month. This is $100 less than the original bundle, which makes it 55% cheaper. The introduction of this bundle will prove to be satisfactory to consumers who need immense internet connectivity capacity.

NBN Co is set to release a detailed Product Construct Paper with its proposed standardised pricing in an attempt to garner feedback from the industry. 

Additional Measure to be Implemented by NBN Co

Aside from standardised prices for NBN services, some other additional measures that are to be implemented by NBN Co include greater product and pricing certainty. They are looking into accomplishing this by adding protection against the withdrawal of bundle access products, as well as implementing price caps and minimum CVC allowances. Another measure that NBN Co targets to implement is an improved commitment and information regarding their service speed performance.

NBN Co is also looking into achieving stronger and more effective wholesale service standards. This means that they are considering rebates that accrue daily for late connections, as well as fault rectifications on the side of their providers. Higher rebates are also in place for missed appointments. They also plan to provide an extension of rebates for small to medium business enterprises.

The Bottomline

For people who are not yet an NBN subscriber, then perhaps this is the perfect time for them to explore entry-level NBN plans, particularly now that these plans are already made more affordable. In the case of existing subscribers, this is also the best time to consider switching to a higher speed tier if necessary because of the standard prices being implemented. Rest assured that these measures are put in place to protect the long-term interests of subscribers overall.

Looking for the perfect NBN plan for your home or business? Contact our team at Compare Broadband on 1300 106 571 so we can recommend to you the best internet providers and deals available in your area. 

You can also visit our website and use our broadband comparison tool for free to get the top internet plans that will suit your needs.