NBN is on a price rise. Here’s what you should do to save your money.
In mid-August, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) published extensive notes of a meeting between itself and the NBN detailing changes on how the company will charge retailers for user plans and bandwidth.
NBN is proposing to get rid of bandwidth, or capacity, fees for its high-speed plan but keep them for low and mid-tier plans. According to the document, the cheapest wholesale plan would double in price over the next decade and eventually cost as much as a plan with four times the download speed. As a result, retailers like Telstra and Optus would be forced to pass on the costs.
The forecasts suggested that the entry-level plan’s maximum allowable cost to retailers would double by 2033 and go to $104 a month by 2040. They are also proposing to make 25 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed plan the entry-level tier and keep bandwidth or capacity charges for all plans below 100Mbps. Those plans would be bundled with a set bandwidth allowance, and retailers would be charged on top of that for how much they actually use rather than how much they think they need.
An excess fee of $8 per Mbps of bandwidth will be increased per month, and the bundles will be reviewed every six months to determine how much more bandwidth should be included in the bundle as user demand continues to rise. The bandwidth will charge for users on 100Mbps or more, instead of just charging a flat fee, which would be increased each financial year.
The ACCC warned in its consultation paper that the $8 fee was above the cost of making more bandwidth available to retailers. However, it could lead to rising costs due to the bandwidth allocation, not meeting expected demand. NBN had forecast an annual peak data demand growth of 13%, but only allowed for bundle allowance increases of around half this level. The 100Mbps plan costs rise with the rate of CPI plus 3% in the first few years and then CPI or 3% later.
In practice, the cost of the lower speed plans would match the 100Mbps plan within a few years. This would be because the underlying plan rises at the same rate, plus the additional cost of bandwidth use as demand for data grows.
So, what can you do to save money and access a better service?
Even though NBN is the most popular internet network, you can still have other options. For example, Move Up has its own network, not reselling NBN.
Differently from NBN or 5G, Move Up installs a high-speed backbone into the building, and a dedicated cabled connection to each unit, which guarantees speeds above 70-80Mbps in peak periods.
Move Up price is also very competitive; with no lock-in contract, you can subscribe to two plans:
- Starter 60 Mbps download speeds are perfect for web surfing, emails, HD streaming and video chatting for $69 per month. *
- Unlimited 1000 Mbp download speeds are recommended for gamers, multiple screen users, sharing large files and live streaming videos.*
Both plans require a single connection fee of $99.
Check if Move Up already covers your region by clicking here.