NBN To Invest $700m In Bid To Topple Telstra
NBN Co is set to slash broadband prices and has pledged to invest $700 million over the next three years in a bid to topple Telstra as the broadband king in Australia.
In an announcement on Thursday, NBN revealed it will work in partnership with internet providers to offer cheaper set-up and plans to ramp up business innovation, productivity and growth until 2023.
The new move will see the company’s cheaper CBD prices available to 700,000 suburban and regional businesses. This could see a staggering 50 per cent price reduction for some companies.
It also means 1.4 million businesses around Australia will be eligible to have fibre installed on their premises free of charge.
“Regional communities stand to benefit significantly from increased business potential made possible by digital technologies, including the creation of new businesses, the regional relocation of businesses and access to new opportunities for innovation, productivity and growth,” said NBN Co Chief Development Officer, Regional and Remote, Gavin Williams.
“Internet retailers will now have a greatly expanded reach to help enable those opportunities with nbn wholesale premium-grade business solutions, providing new levels of choice and digital capability for businesses across the country.”
NBN’s announcement also follows Telstra’s similar move to cut the price of its enterprise plans. This could see the government-owned company overthrow Telstra as the most dominant player in the market.
Under the new plan, NBN will build fibre optic cable on business premises for free and then provide an “ethernet enterprise plan”. But NBN will need to rely on major retailers such as Telstra, Optus or TPG to roll out these plans.
According to the Australian Financial Review, an industry source claims all telco providers except Telstra are expected to welcome the move.
Business telco providers Macquarie Telecom also applauded the news, describing it as a “complete turnaround from the detrimental journey tier one telcos had us on before the NBN was introduced and executed”.