Wollongong goes gigabit thanks to MyRepublic

Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor

Last updated 05 June 2017

Australians in Wollongong are set to get some of fastest internet speeds in the country at a surprising affordable price. MyRepublic, who launched in Australia back at the end of last year, will offer anyone in The 'Gong an unlimited gigabit connection for just $129.99 per month.

MyRepublic will deliver its gigabit connections using the Fibre-to-the-Premise NBN technology type, at what is thought to be quite a significant lost. For an ISP to sell a gigabit NBN connection, the company is looking at a base charge of $150 per premise before even factoring in bandwidth on the NBN and connectivity back to the wider internet.

The service is set to go live in July, and curious customers can register their interest now. The gigabit plan will require signing a 12-month contract.

MyRepublic's idea for gigabit plans in Australia came off the back of comments made by NBN CEO Bill Morrow who seemingly suggested that Australians wouldn't take up gigabit connections even if they were on offered. Morrow later clarified that over 1.5 million premises could connect at gigabit speeds, but that no retail internet service provider had chosen to sell these at the time.

"This is, in our opinion, because there is still minimal consumer demand for these ultra-fast speeds – especially at the prices retailers would have to charge for them," said Morrow on NBN's blog.

"Our own data shows that 83 per cent of people on services powered by the NBN network today are ordering retail services based on the two lowest wholesale speed tiers 25/5Mbps and 12/1Mbps."

Morrow suggested that the small demand for such services comes down to cost: given Australia's geography and population density, the company can't deliver gigabit fibre connections for the same kind of price as in city states such as Singapore, where such a connection can be had for $49 a month.

MyRepublic's news come hot of Tasmania telco Launtel's announcement that it is now offering gigabit services to businesses in Launceston. While MyRepublic is planning to take a loss on gigabit NBN connections, Launtel isn't, as such, customers will be looking at about $1,000 per month.

Alex Choros

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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.

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