News

NewsNew NBN pricing means faster internet for everyone
New NBN pricing means faster internet for everyone

New NBN pricing means faster internet for everyone

Tags: Telco & Broadband
Last updated by Joe Hanlon on

Finally, some good news about the NBN. 

Following ongoing criticism about the performance of its new internet network, NBN Co has  announced it will change the way it charges service providers for access to the network and make it better value for the providers to sell us faster NBN plans.

From now on, NBN providers will be able to offer customers an NBN 50 plan and pay for the price of an NBN 25 plan. From about April next year, NBN co will drop the price of NBN 50 further, making it several dollars cheaper than the slower option.

According to NBN CEO Bill Morrow, the network builder wants NBN 50 to become the new default speed choice so that more of us can experience the best that the NBN has to offer. Today, 80% of people using the NBN are on NBN 25 plans or slower.

The change in pricing offers a significant incentive for the providers to move existing NBN customers to faster connections, and to advertise NBN 50 speeds as their flagship products.

But more importantly, the change in pricing also has a major impact on the capacity of each connection, and this is a big deal. Capacity, or bandwidth, refers to how much data can travel along the network at the same time. Bandwidth is like a water pipe; the larger the pipe, the more water you can move from one end to the other.

Existing NBN Co pricing encouraged providers to pay for less bandwidth to maximise their profits, but the upcoming changes will include a generous amount of bandwidth with each connection. In fact, in most cases the bandwidth will double for each customer.

If a major chunk of NBN customers choose plans with double capacity it will have a significant effect across the entire network. We'll all be sharing a larger pipe so there will be less congestion and faster speeds, even during busy times in the evenings.

What does this mean for you?

There are two key takeaways from this news, depending on your current internet connection. If you are currently using the NBN, we'd suggest talking to your provider in the New Year about changing your service and getting a plan with a faster speed. It'd be nice to think that your provider will contact you and suggest a change, but I wouldn't rely on them to do that.

If you are just about to connect to the NBN, consider a no contract plan option and make sure you have the flexibility to move to a better plan when April rolls around. Choose an NBN 25 plan today, and upgrade to an NBN 50 plan next year.

To get you started, below is a selection of great NBN plans that you can get right now.

Joe Hanlon is the publisher at whistleout.com.au 

Originally posted on .

Join the conversation

FiftyUp Club
New NBN pricing means faster internet for everyone

Share your views with other members. 

Want to leave a comment? or .
Read our moderation policy here.
Lyn
Lyn from QLD commented:

I am forced to use my phone at more expense to use as a wi-fi hotspot - so expensive and data too expensive in this way 

Roger
Roger from NSW commented:

Once again only half the story is told ... I understand that this applies to only fixed line customers ... what about regional Australia??? NBN users on fixed wireless who Trunbull decided did not warrant a proper service I understand will get nothing like this!!! 

Ken
Ken from QLD replied to Roger:

You're right, it's always the fixed line customers isn't it? I'm on the NBN Skymuster satellite 25/5 plan and I've had nothing but slow speeds from the beginning. Until just recently I'd been getting 1 to 2 MBits p.s. download speeds at best. That's a lousy 250kbytes p.s. Then the ACCC ordered thieving Telstra and Optus? to refund their customers for false advertising regarding speeds, so I sent a "PLEA" to ACCC about my ongoing speed problem. About two weeks later my ISP must have paid for a bunch more band width because now any speed test website I use shows a download speed of around 24 MBits p.s. (Downloads are still slow but better than before). Maybe you might try contacting them also. 

Walter
Walter from SA commented:

That's all very well for those who have access to the NBN. We're stuck with DSL1 and below in our area with little outlook of NBN within the next 12 months. We can't even get cable anymore which would have been a vast improvement over the slow 1-3Mbps download and 0.1Mbs upload speeds currently being experienced. 

Comment Guidelines