Vodafone has released pricing and additional information about its first fixed line offering to be delivered through the NBN.
The telco is pitching its NBN plans as being simpler than competing offerings with a focus on “service innovation” and “resisting the status quo”.
“We see enormous potential in the nbn™ to finally provide Australia with world class broadband. However, what we’re seeing is the old guard telcos bamboozling Australians with techno-speak, confusing plans and poor customer experience,” said Vodafone’s General Manager of Broadband Matthew Lobb.
With prices starting at $70 a month, Vodafone will offer a 30 Day Network Satisfaction Guarantee that will allow customers to leave within the first 30 days and return their Vodafone Wi-Fi Hub for a full refund minus NBN specific charges.
Speed is an important factor of Vodafone’s NBN services, with the telco set to proactively run a speed test within the first 15 days of activation and also allow customers to change their speed without fees once per bill cycle.
Earlier this week, the ACCC released guidance that suggests service providers should advertise the realistic speeds experienced during peak periods rather than the current trend of indicating maximum speeds during off-peak times.
“We’re really keen to be transparent and work with customers during the connection journey. There are a number of factors that affect speed and some of them we will only know after connection. This is why we’re going to do a speed check after the service activation to make sure our customers are on the right speed tier plan for their needs,” Lobb said.
The previously announced 4G back up feature of the Vodafone Wi-Fi Hub will allow customers to connect to Vodafone’s 4G network for up to 30 days following an NBN fault on a customer’s line.
Instant Connect will also allow customers in 4G areas to use the internet between receiving the Wi-Fi Hub and having their NBN service activated for a maximum of 30 days. Both 4G features are speed limited to 12Mbps for downloads and 1Mbps for uploads.
Existing Vodafone postpaid customers will also receive up to 3GB of bonus data a month after connecting to an NBN service.
Vodafone will begin trialing its NBN services with about 300 employees and customers before making services available via an invitation-only launch.
“What we’ve observed is that you can rush to launch to make a land grab that’s not customer focused, but that’s not what we’re about. We’re in this for the long haul and we want to make sure that we do it right,” Lobb said.
Services will initially be offered in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Geelong, Newcastle and Wollongong before being progressively rolled out to other areas.
Pricing for Vodafone’s home and business NBN plans can be found below:
Vodafone Home NBN Plans:
Vodafone Business NBN Plans:
