NBN Co has announced that all fibre-to-the home or …kerb, or coax cable services, of a higher speed than 100Mbps will see a significant speed boost at no extra cost. Sounds great, doesn’t it?
It also means, apparently, that for those not needing 100Mbps or higher the cost keep rising. My ISP, Mate, has increased the price of my 50Mbps FTTN connection several times over the last years from $69 per month to, now, $86. The service quality has gone down - more dropouts, lower evening speeds. Well below the 42Mbps peak time rate promised.
Why is this happening? It seems obvious that maintaining the ‘last mile’ of copper is becoming more and more tedious and expensive. No money is spent to maintaining the copper. By making it more and more cumbersome, the hope is that eventually everyone will move to fibre, pay more and enjoy endless 4k movies. Soon, there will be no low cost, low speed service anymore in areas with fibre access. How FAIR is that?
Mind you, what we are paying in Australia is far, far more than I’ve ever encountered in other countries. $100 per month? You gotta be joking. Go anywhere in Europe and you never pay more than 1/3 of that. Even in Russia, another country with low population density in areas, the cost would be more like $15 per month. Canada, another large country sits at half our prices.
Someone is ripping us off here, and I don’t like it. Considering that the Internet has become an essential service (Not much fun doing banking without it!), there should be a basic, affordable and reliable service available to anyone who wants it.
I think this is something Choice should get their teeth into.
I agree. I’ve been on the upgrade bandwagon since it became available, because I had been held back, so to speak, on 28.8 dialup for so long it felt like I would never get off it. So when Exetel offered “Flip to Fibre” I took it, because of better stability, and when they recently offered TheOne plan (500/50 with no bells and whistles) at $80/m I took that too… but not for the speed… for the reduced cost. I had already been bumped to close to $90 for my 100/20. I don’t know what will happen with pricing in September when everyone on FTTP who has 100/20 will be bumped to 500/50.
I also feel really gypped on mobile because I cannot find a service which fits my use case. Low use and dont need scads of data.
Main difference is in Australia, the infrastructure was installed and is owned by the government. In most other countries it has been the responsibility of telecommunications businesses. There is substantial evidence that government projects cost significantly more than the same projects delivered for the private sector. This could be part of the answer as infrastructure delivery costs directly impact on operating costs.
While it will vary, funding for network infrastructure in the EU and across the globe is a mix of private vs government vs public-private partnerships funding, country specific. One answer does not explain all.
Government projects often cost more because of regulatory issues and standards, wages, accountability to voters, and risk whereby a government cannot walk away while private industry can.
I think the bigger problem for Australia is its population density. When telecommunications went in, it was Government funding that helped to ensure that most people in Australia could have access to a phone (not necessarily a house phone but a phone). It was expensive as a project to install with a big timeline before payback was obvious.
Now we have three major providers of hardware in the market (and even some of that hardware is shared by the three). Telstra is still obliged to provide a telephone service, they can choose the means by which it is connected. There are a multitude of MVNO in the market, they don’t bother to build the hardware to build bigger networks, they just buy portions off the big three. If people want more then they will need to expect to pay more, it’s private enterprise after all.
To NBN
Some of this cost debacle can be placed directly at the feet of the MTM NBN and the Governments who instituted it. Most people if not for the MTM would have been on Fibre from the get go. No need to re- trench, no need to now re-lay fibre in place of copper, no need to remove and replace obsolete hardware, no need to get extra funding, no need for delays, the list is somewhat long as to the additional costs this has caused. How is that extra spending recovered? It is recovered through pricing of the product sold to us all. We still have the majority of Australia on the more expensive to maintain copper based network, most speeds achieved on it are 100 Mbps or lower. Those who purchase 100 Mbps or lower tend (not always but tend) to be those on copper networks, often because they can’t get better (again not always but often enough). Pricing tends to hit those who cost the system the most, it doesn’t cost much more to send 1000 Mbps than it does 500 Mbps or 100 Mbps through fibre even CVC wise. To get 100 Mbps through copper requires great copper, short distance from the node, great joins, clean and dry connections, all which adds up to bigger expense.
I just recently upgraded from Fibre To The Node, or FTTN, to Fibre To The Premises, or FTTP for no cost. I was previously on a Telstra plan of 50Mbps, (Megabits per second) download and 18Mbps upload, and the plan has a landline bundled in, with unlimited calls and call times. Our mobile phones are with another service provider. Over the years of being on this plan, I have been very lucky to have no dropouts, or slowing of the internet speeds, in contrast to dropouts and slow speeds from CHOICE Community Members, who have written in their postings. Telstra over the recent months have been jacking up the monthly cost for no good reason or explanation. 12 months ago I was paying $69 per month, and then it went to $80, then $90, then most recently to $105. I just got my latest bill yesterday, being the first since the upgrade, and it was $103. Maybe this is because the update was half-way during the billing period. The new speeds are 100Mbps upload and 18Mbps upload. With 9 milliseconds Ping, which measures the delay in data transfer between your device and a server. From time to time over the years I use “speedtest.net” to check the speeds and they are always within advertised limits. While the new download speed is twice as fast as it used to be, I think it is only slightly faster, with TV streaming.
The node cabinet is about 80 metres from our house, and I reasoned that in the future, if the copper cable packed up, Telstra would probably force me to go to a satellite based internet plan, or else I would have to pay to get FTTP connected, so it was better to get it done now, while it’s still free.
Probably not. I’ve had PAYG as my main mobile communication in the past and that has not worked for me at all. I just need something with calls and texts, and maybe 5Gb data. All the providers seem to be going for big data and big bucks. I was considering Amaysim’s $60 per annum for calls and texts and no data inclusions… but thats a trap for the unwary… as Amaysim is, anyway. I had my PayG phone just sitting on my desk un-used (forgot to switch back to airplane mode) and saw $15 just disappear from my account. No calls or texts and no active use of data. Any kind of polling for email, weather etc just eats it. On any Optus account you need those scads of data!!
[edit]I’m currently on Everyday Mobile (used to be Woolworths and still owned by them) at $170 for unlimited calls and texts (within Aus, does not include international) and 125GB which I barely use, being home most of the time these days. Finding that $170 all at once, when it also coincides with car rego and cat jab time, gets a bit gnarly for me. I was looking for something cheaper but I don’t think I’m going to find it. Its a grandfathered plan so I’m hanging on for now.
We have the same problem. $95.00 month with Aussie BB for unreliable Opticom. Seems new estates in regional areas, Geelong, don’t get the NBN so the choice of ISPs is reduced. Two people in our house, no gamers just streaming the occasional series or movies. It’s a disgrace. Aussie BB periodically offer discounts but only for new customers.
Ring them. They are marketeers as are all the rest, but unlike some others they are happy to keep customers. On their last ‘for new customers only’ I rang and they were happy to give me the same deal, no hassles. They also have enough staff answering the phone/chats so contacting them is not a day-long wait.
Offers are usually phrased so customers and non-customers alike expect the T&C are what they appear, not flexible like they might be. Always ring to ask for ‘the deal’ and you might equally avoid this form of lazy tax.
One thing I will never pay is a lazy tax….. I change providers of everything! When I called Aussie BB about a cheaper plan and mentioned their new sign up offer. He couldn’t change it and suggested I call the “retentions” team during business hours. I am currently researching Opticom ISPs of which there are not many. Opticom Fibre is a lot more expensive than the NBN
They appear to have changed practices. OTOH I rang during business hours so maybe that was a difference?
I meant no offence, and if posed with the situation you described I would ring the retention team and ask for more than on offer to ‘new customers’ for my trouble and inconvenience, and if I did not get at least the current offer I would be gone ASAP. However it seems like you may be in a hard place without much choice except paying more for the same?
The original NBN was designed to be pure fibre, and this is what happened in Tasmania. For remote areas, they use Skymuster Satellite or Fixed wireless. The advantage of fibre is that glass does not corrode, were as copper phone lines do, Phone lines cannot be more than 900 m long, then a node connects the phone line to a fibre cable back to the exchange. The speed of cable is determined by the equipment at each end, Stephen Conroy was the Minister who started the fibre network because he knew it will be fast and reliable for many years, The Liberals brought in FTTN and using coaxial cables for pay TV. The FTTN has unreliability and speed limits, coax cable was stopped because the telcos advertised speeds it was never capable of. To fix the mess, the current Government is now getting the NBN to replace all non-fibre cable with fibre. The demand for faster speeds has been continuously increasing and soon there will be competition from low orbiting satellites (Skylink) as well as high speed 5G. Although high speed 5G will need a micro base station on every second power pole. Mobile phone base stations and all non fibre systems fail during blackouts after a few hours.
All phone handsets connect to a modem and use Voice Over Internet Protocol. There are no analog phone lines. Analog phonel lines used to power the phone, now the modem has to power the digital handset.Any copper ‘phone’l lines only carry digitised versions of the sound or computer data.
The NBN program is a progressive upgrade to FTTP of FTTN and FTTC premises. There are conditions, which for many may require taking up a higher speed plan. There are no other upfront NBN costs. Customers may need to spend on upgrades on their personal home network equipment and in house cabling if they intend to take full advantage of the higher speeds available.
Eligible homes with an nbn® Fibre to the Node (FTTN) or Fibre to the Curb connection will have the opportunity to upgrade to the superior nbn® Fibre to the Premises (FTTP)technology. For those wanting to check whether they can upgrade their NBN service - the following post contains a direct link to enable one to look up with the NBN eligibility. Although one does not contact the NBN to request an upgrade. This can only be requested through the Retail Service Providers. (Note I’ve deleted the links that provided an explanation of each technology and the differences). The major RSP’s (NBN Internet Service Providers) provide descriptions and explanations of the key differences. Although one will often find these provide connection through to marketing of their products.
NOTE: The program DOES NOT include those connected through HFC. Customers connected to HFC can request an upgrade through the Technology Choice program. The practicality and cost of a FTTP upgrade can be significant.
Those Aussie Broadband links’ “check your address” function insists on having your name, mobile, and email as well as address, if you’re not an AB customer.
The NBN’s “check your address” function only asks for the address.
When Pay TV rolled out coaxial cable on electricity poles, a small trial was conducted in Perth the WA Government banned its Western Power from allowing the use of its poles for this purpose. The Government thought it was ugly. As a result, all pay TV came from satellite. Hence no HFC in WA. hence my error.
Not an error - we all have different experiences, often specific to the region, state etc we known best. Cable TV and internet services were rolled out in the major eastern capitals using largely overhead connections where ever possible. Some portions of the services were buried. In particular when rolled out in new estates prior to the NBN coming about. Where ever there were existing poles and wires, overhead was the easy way forward. Our HFC inner suburban Brisbane was connected to an underground cable which ran under the foot path along side a main road. Around the corner the original coax was strung from the poles.
P.S. If one has HFC and puts in their address (I have) the NBN will say that I have HFC and that there are faster HFC speeds available - to contact my internet service provider to enquire about a faster plan.
I got two discounts recently, first was a substantial discount on the Business grade 1000/400 Mbps package which lasted for 6 months. Made it almost the same price as the home 1000/50 Mbps plan as it included the fixed IP address for free that we pay for on the home one.
After that 6 month one finished went back on the 1000/50 plan and got $10 a month off for 6 months. Still currently on the discount for another 3 months.
So one was an upgrade the next was a downgrade, they gave me both no quibbles as I did it purely online through my app.
My previous experience with ABB started with trying to do it on their app, and it knocked me back stating the offer was only for new customers, hence I rang and the human agent had no problem adding ‘the new customer deal’ to my account.
Trying a change/deal on the app might be different now. If/when it works it is better than having to dial in, press 1, 2, 3, … to get through the VMS system and join a queue, regardless if it is a short queue.
