High-Speed NBN Tops Five Million Users During COVID

The number of Australian broadband users on high-speed plans has topped five million for the first time, fuelled by pandemic demand.

A new report from the ACCC has found that 5.2 million Australian consumers are now on broadband plans of 50Mbps or above, with the 50Mbps speed tier accounting for 57.5 per cent of users.

Total connections to the NBN have reached 7.8 million. Connections to services of up to 100/20Mbps, 250/25Mbps, and 500/50Mbps grew rapidly over the last quarter, though still only account for around two per cent of total services, while 12 and 25Mbps plans grew only slowly. Lower-speed plans now represent only 30.4 per cent of all connections.

ACCC Chair Rod Sims says that the wide variety of available plans and speed tiers is good news for consumers.

“It is vital that broadband providers offer a variety of plans for all needs and budgets. Consumers should choose the plan that best works for them, and that doesn’t always mean the fastest,” he said.

Telstra remains the largest NBN player, with 45.7 per cent of all wholesale services acquired from NBN; this is a slight decrease from last quarter. TPG is second, with 24.4 per cent of all wholesale services following the Vodafone merger, and Optus placed third at 15.4 per cent.