NBN Co Considering Dropping Upload Speed To Cut Prices

The corporation in charge of delivering Australia’s national broadband network has released its latest review paper for consultation on wholesale pricing changes, which include potentially lowering upload speeds due to a lack of consumer demand.

NBN Co said it’s now looking for feedback from retailers on new pricing structures designed to encourage under-represented, price sensitive customers such as low-income earners and older Australians to subscribe to services.

Telcos have made no secret of their dissatisfaction with the current wholesale prices NBN Co charges to use the infrastructure.

Optus is currently building a 5G network to provide home broadband services it hopes will reduce its dependence on the wholesaler, for which they plan to charge $70 a month.

In its new consultation paper, delivered to more than 50 retail service providers offering services, NBN Co has mooted the possible introduction of a 100/20 bundle to entice customers who want higher download speeds but are less concerned about upload speeds.

The current structure is a 100/40 bundle for speeds of up to 100Mbps down and 40Mbps up, which costs $65 wholesale.

Last July NBN Co introduced bundle discounts that dropped the price of 50/20 services to $45 from around $60.

NBN Co claims this has led to a 16 per cent increase in the the number of customers on speed tiers of 50Mbps or above.

The corporation now plans to speed up the Bundle 100 package by increasing the connectivity virtual circuit by 500Kbps, lifting it to 3Mbps.

The performance boost is expected to be implemented in September at no extra charge.