Australian users could be paying more for broadband from May next year, with NBN Co floating a two-dollar increase to the fixed cost of its 50mbps and above services.
In its new pricing review consultation paper, the wholesale provider lays out two options for retail service providers from 2022-23: either freezing prices for AVC (Access Virtual Circuit, a fixed charge) at May 2021 levels and increasing CVC (Connectivity Virtual Circuit, a variable charge) capacity levels at no cost to retailers, or a $2 AVC increase balanced by an extra $2.80 in CVC inclusions over and above those in the first option.
As iTNews noted today, either option might result in price increases for NBN consumers, as option one would see providers need to push more users to upgrade to higher-speed plans to access the additional CVC, and option 2 potentially requiring service providers to pass increased costs on to their customers.
According to NBN Co’s Chief Customer Officer, Brad Whitcomb, the consultation process helps the industry determine how to meet growing broadband demand.
“We see this consultation as an important opportunity for the industry to ensure that we can continue to evolve our framework to meet growing data consumption and develop solutions to continue to support Australia’s digital future in a commercially sustainable way.
“We believe both options deliver the industry real choice in managing future data demand,” he said.
This paper represents the beginning of a two-round consultation process; an interim paper will be released in Q2 2021, with the final paper to come out in Q3 2021.
