NBN pricing overhaul means you'll get faster internet for less

Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor

Last updated 14 December 2017

NBN Co is shaking up its wholesale pricing in effort to make faster internet plans more accessible, starting with offering internet service providers a discount on NBN 50 plans. This will allow ISPs to sell NBN 50 plans for the same price they currently sell slower NBN 25 plans, which should represent a saving of about $10 per month.

The discount comes into effect from today, with TPG, iiNet, and Internode being the first to adjust their plans. All three have axed their NBN 25 plans, and are now selling NBN 50 plans for the same cost. If you want unlimited data, their NBN 50 plans now cost $69.99, $79.99, and $79.99, respectively. The three say you can expect speeds of 36Mbps during peak hours on these plans, although your actual speeds may vary depending on how you connect to the NBN.

All Fixed Line nbn®

nbn50 Unlimited Plan

All Fixed Line nbn®

nbn® 50/17 Mbps
Unlimited Data
Deal: $69.99/mth for first 6 months, then $89.99/mth. T&Cs apply.

$69.99/mth

Min. cost $69.99

Link not supplied

$69.99/mth

Min. cost $69.99

Link not supplied

All Fixed Line nbn®

nbn50 Liimitless

All Fixed Line nbn®

nbn® 50/17 Mbps
Unlimited Data
Deal: Includes $20/mth off for 6 mths – $69.99/mth for first 6 months, then $89.99/mth. Use code SAVE20FOR6

$69.99/mth

+ $10 Upfront

Min. cost $79.99

Link not supplied

$69.99/mth

+ $10 Upfront

Min. cost $79.99

Link not supplied

We're expecting to see other providers follow suit shortly.

NBN Co CEO Bill Morrow said the network builder is looking to position NBN 50 plans as its "flagship service".

In the longer term, NBN Co will introduce wholesale bundles for NBN 50 and NBN 100 plans that include both network access and network capacity. At present, NBN resellers pay these as two separate charges: AVC for network access, and CVC for network capacity.

CVC has historically been a controversial charge that led to an ongoing blame game between NBN Co and ISPs. NBN Co has regularly accused ISPs of not purchasing enough CVC (which in turn leads to congestion), while ISPs have suggested the cost of doing so is too prohibitive.

NBN Co says the new bundles include nearly double the average capacity being purchased by retailers across all fixed line services. This in turn should result in less congestion during peak usage hours, which should see more subscribers consistently getting the speeds they're paying for.

The new bundles should also represent a cost saving for ISPs. The NBN 50 bundle with 2Mbps of CVC will be 27% cheaper than current wholesale pricing, while the NBN 100 bundle with 2.5Mbps of capacity will be 10% cheaper than current wholesale pricing. Additional network capacity is also getting a discount from $14 per 1Mbps (excluding volume based discounts) to $8.

NBN Co will also be discounting the wholesale price of NBN 12 plans by around 8%.

This bundle pricing will come into effect in the second quarter of 2018, and will hopefully see ISPs offering cheaper high speed NBN plans less prone to congestion.

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

Read full bio