New wholesale bundle pricing options to be launched in May

The number of Australian homes and business connected to higher speed plans over the nbn™ broadband access network has more than doubled with new figures revealing more than one million people have upgraded their internet speeds in the last four months.

Following NBN Co’s commitment to provide updates on improvements to customer experience, its latest monthly progress report shows a dramatic shift in orders for plans over the nbn™ access network based on wholesale speeds of 50Mbps or higher, increasing from 16 per cent in December to 37 per cent.

The growth has been driven by the company’s ‘Focus on 50’ wholesale promotion, which provides retailers with discounted pricing on higher speed nbn™ plans as well as a 50 per cent boost of additional bandwidth.

The promotion will be superseded by NBN Co’s new wholesale bundles, which are designed to deliver better value and more flexibility than the company’s existing pricing to encourage internet providers to reduce bandwidth congestion and sell higher speed broadband retail plans.

NBN Co today announced it plans to start selling the new wholesale pricing options from May 2018 following months of continued industry consultation.

NBN Co’s Chief Customer Officer – Residential, Brad Whitcomb said:

“Our team continues to work closely with internet providers to deliver better broadband speeds for Australians connected to services over the nbn™ access network.

“Three months ago we had less than one in 15 users connected to our ‘sweet spot’ wholesale 50Mbps plans – today we have more than one in four signed-up to them for better value than what they would have previously been paying. 

“Not only are more people starting to experience the benefits of connecting to high speed plans but our work with industry continues to deliver a world class network performance as the average network bandwidth congestion per Australian home is consistently sitting below 30 minutes per week compared with more than six hours per week this time last year.

“Our insights indicate people who have connected to higher speed plans are now happier with their experience and are able to better enjoy the benefits of fast broadband such as streaming using multiple devices, working from home and access to online education resources.*

“With our new wholesale broadband bundles now set to launch in early May, we encourage people to shop around and speak to their internet providers about the plans available as well as what their usage is during peak evening periods to ensure they are getting the best value service.

“The new fixed line wholesale pricing structure is designed to incentivise internet providers to put their customers on higher speed plans and to provide better assurances of minimum speeds in the evening hours.

“The results from our latest monthly progress report show we’ve listened to the community’s feedback and are working hard alongside industry to make significant steps to improve customer experience but we know there’s more to be done.”

The rollout of the nbn™ access network is more than half way built with more than 3.7 million homes and businesses already connected. NBN Co remains on track to complete the rollout of the network and connect eight million homes and businesses by the end of 2020.

*NBN Co’s monthly progress report is designed to give Australians a clearer understanding of the ways the company is taking action to improve customer experience. The metrics used relate to services NBN Co delivers to phone or internet providers and the physical connection of homes and businesses to nbn™ infrastructure. The metrics do not cover services supplied by providers to end users. Metrics are based on averages, summaries and simplifications – end user experiences vary. For important information on the metrics and their descriptions please visit nbn.com.au/updates

NBN Co’s March 2018 monthly progress report includes:

Ready to connect – There are around 6.5 million Australian homes and businesses who are able to connect to the nbn™ access network – compared with 4.5 million in March 2017.

Connected homes and businesses – There are 3.7 million homes and businesses connected to a plan over the nbn™ access network – compared with 2 million in March 2017.

Installed right the first time – There are 87 per cent of homes and businesses who had their nbn™ equipment installed right the first time – compared with 85 per cent in March 2017.

Meeting agreed installation times – There are 92 per cent of homes and businesses who were connected within the agreed timeframes with phone and internet providers – compared with 88 per cent in March 2017.

Average network bandwidth congestion – The average home or business connected to the nbn™ access network is now experiencing around 18 minutes per week of bandwidth congestion – compared with 6 hours and 55 minutes per week in March 2017.

Fixed Line Congestion – There are 0.068 per cent of all homes and businesses connected to the nbn™ Fixed Line access network who have experienced network congestion – compared with 0.370 per cent in March 2017.

Uptake to higher wholesale plans – There are 37 per cent of homes and businesses on a 50Mbps (download) wholesale speed plan or higher – compared with 16 per cent in March 2017.

Network availability – The nbn™ access network was up and running more than 99.93 per cent of the time – compared to 100.00 per cent in March 2017.

Meeting agreed fault restoration time – There are 83 per cent of faults resolved with phone and internet providers within the agreed time frames – compared to 65 per cent in March 2017.

Faults per 100 connected homes and businesses –There are an average 1.0 per 100 homes and business who experienced a fault on the nbn™ access network this month – compared to 0.9 in March 2017.

Please visit nbn.com.au/updates for more information.

Important notes to editor:

• More than one million end users have been upgraded or signed on to higher speed plans over the nbn™ access network between December 2017-April 2018.
• To assist internet providers to prepare for the transition of NBN Co’s new wholesale bundles, the Focus on 50 promotion will be available until 31 October 2018.
• Experiences vary depending on a range of factors including the technology over which services are delivered and factors outside NBN Co’s control, such as broadband speed plans, provider and equipment.
• Right first time installations – typically excludes end-user cancellations, end-user or service provider initiated reschedules and other things outside of NBN Co’s control such as bad weather. This measure covers the installation of equipment that does not require more than one appointment. It does not cover successful connections to a plan over the nbn™ access network through a phone and internet provider.
• Meeting agreed installation times – varies by nbn™ access network type and available infrastructure at the premises. This metric does not include Priority Access connections. The Wholesale Broadband Agreement includes provisions around calculation and time measurement.
• Average network bandwidth congestion – calculated across all bandwidth purchased by all phone and internet providers across the whole network and excludes nbn™ Sky Muster™ services. While bandwidth congestion is caused by the level of provisioning of capacity by the phone and internet providers, there are also other types of congestion which may occur on the nbn™ access network.
• Fixed Line network congestion – calculated based on how NBN Co utilises certain parts of the nbn™ Fixed Line access network that are shared by phone and internet providers. This measure does not include Sky Muster™ satellite and nbn™ Fixed Wireless. This metric does not consider any bandwidth congestion which is measured separately.
• Uptake to higher wholesale plans '50Mbps (download) wholesale speed plan' includes wholesale plans with download speeds including both 50Mbps and 25-50Mbps plans that NBN Co provides to phone and internet providers. NBN Co wholesale speed tiers available to your phone and internet provider vary depending on the nbn™ access network type in your area. Your experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ access network, depends on the technology over which services are delivered to your premises and some factors outside our control including your equipment quality, software, signal quality, broadband plans and how your phone or internet provider designs its network.
• Network availability – The Wholesale Broadband Agreement includes detailed rules for defining and measuring network availability and includes a number of exceptions such as planned outages. This metric is has been rounded to the nearest one decimal place.
• Meeting agreed fault restoration times – measures individual service faults, not network related faults which are tracked separately. The measure also excludes faults not related to the nbn™ access network. The agreed service levels vary depending on the location of the premises, and are different for the nbn™ Sky Muster™ Satellite network. The Wholesale Broadband Agreement includes detailed rules for defining "nbn faults" and measuring nbn™ access network performance. This does not include Priority Assistance Faults or Enhanced Faults.
• Faults per 100 connected homes and businesses – measures individual service faults, not network related faults which are tracked separately. This also excluded faults not related to the nbn™ access network.