NBNCo. commissioned the new Accenture research, making favourable comparisons between Australian broadband prices and other OECD countries. Accenture analysed the affordability of Australian broadband compared to peer countries with similar products. Terms of average incomes per capita were also compared.

The date range in comparison was between the years 2018 and 2020. Compared to the 13 OECD countries, Australia saw the most significant improvement in affordability. As a result, Australia now ranks sixth overall across comparable speed tiers.

Germany is the top country with the most affordable broadband prices for speed tiers 0-12Mbps, 13-25Mbps, 26-50Mbps, and 51-100. Germany ranks 2.0 while France closely followed through with an average rank of 2.5 across the same speed tiers.

South Korea and Japan garnered an average rank of 3.0, while the United States had an average rank of 3.5. Australia’s average rank is 5.0. Other countries listed as the topmost affordable broadband are Italy, UK, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, Turkey, and Mexico.

The ranking was based on a spread of tariffs across various speed tiers that range from 0 to 100Mbps. Nevertheless, it is notable that Australia also had the largest decline in prices as a percentage of income over the last couple of years.

Research also revealed that the average Australian household only spends 1.1% of income on NBN broadband services. This is notably lower compared to 1.3% for water and 1.6% for electricity. These findings concluded that the average NBN monthly cost was only $73.

The survey, which was participated by over 2,000 consumers, also claimed that 60% found the NBN affordable, and only 12% said otherwise. This ranked NBN better than other utilities, including electricity and water.

The NBN broadband access network aims to provide Australians with high-speed broadband access through the Multi-Technology Mix (MTM). This technology stack comprises the Fixed Line, Fixed Wireless, and Sky Muster satellite technologies.