NBN Price Increases for low volume Users

Electronics & Technology NBN
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I recently sent the following to my Federal MP, and several bodies that claim to represent Senior citizens. The only reply I have received is from Choice!

Hello Ms Thwaites,
Below is a post I put on a forum (in May) used by technically oriented people for Networking and Internet discussions. Below my post you will see the 1st two replies I received. You will see the 1st reply contained lots of links to telecommunications ISP web-pages. I have omitted a number of images that were included in that reply.

Also, I have not shown the ISP that I currently use - who is the subject of this discussion. However, if you wish to investigate this further and take action on NBN’s pricing policies, I will send you that detail. Please advise what action will be taken?

In essence, the discussion below shows that the NBN is catering for high volume data users, and not bothering to provide appropriately priced services for those who need an internet service, but only use low volumes of data. Numbers of retired people use far less than my usage, as mentioned below. You probably know that updates for Windows based systems can use 0.5 to 5GB/mo, less for Android, and I don’t know what Apple and IOS systems use. My experience, having assisted numbers of age 70+ people, is that many use less than 10GB/mo. As they often have little understanding of the digital world, they are often on a plan offering hundreds of GB/mo, or even unlimited data on high-speed NBN connections – and are paying for a lot more than they ever need.

Of course, some elderly people spend their days watching movies etc, i.e. they use significant amounts of data. But many other elderly people are quite active in the community, and use very small amounts.

My understanding is that the government is concerned about the current high cost, and high increases in cost of living, yet here we see a government owned body making excessive increases in charges. Where banks charge 20% on credit cards, not only consumer bodies, but also government, speak out about such imposts. I therefore ask that your government take action on the charging policies and increases being imposed by the NBN.

It is a matter of record that it was not an ALP government that oversaw the very costly roll-out of the NBN. However, pensioners should not bear the costs of this failure by a previous government. It should be borne equally by all who installed that government, and a much better way to do that would be for tax-payers to pay for the NBN, rather than the elderly (often low-income people).

I am copying this to several advocacy organisations that are interested in the elderly, in the hope they can also act to reduce this exploitation by the NBN of low income Aged Pensioners.

My post

NBN based Internet Cost Increase (~20%)

I have just received advice from xxx that in July my Internet plan will change from 25/10 100GB/mo $66/mo to 25/10 unlimited $79/mo, i.e. 19.7% increase. I haven’t recently tracked my usage, but it has probably never exceeded 50GB/mo. (since writing this forum post, I see my max monthly usage over the last 5 months was ~85GB (up + down), average ~half that).

I have spoken my ISP, and he agreed that this was largely an increase in NBN costs that they have to pass on to customers. The best he offered me was a $6 discount for the 1st 6 months - and maybe the Retention team will give me a better offer. I will chase that up after I find what other options I have. xxx only offer alternate Opticom services where NBN isn’t available.

I certainly understand that Australia needs a service that provides low costs for high volume users, but we also need a service with a low monthly cost even if it has higher data volume costs. A few years back my daughter used a $32/mo wireless service, due to NBN not replacing her old PSTN phone service. That was home phone plus wireless internet, I can’t remember what data was included, but it was heaps more than the <10GB/mo she used.

So can anyone recommend Telcos that offer low priced low volume wireless or other non-NBN plans, that preferably also offer good customer service (such as competent tech support)?

NB: This info would also be of interest to large numbers of our older members - many of them only have internet to receive or send a few emails a week, and maybe a little bit of low volume browsing. Mostly, they don’t understand enough of their internet plans to chase suitable ones, instead they just accept whatever Optus or Telstra salesmen give them.

1st reply
5G Home Internet Plans | Vodafone Australia?
5G Home Internet Plans.
(http://www.vodafone.com.au)

Sorry, these links exceed my quota of 2
Home Wireless Broadband - $10 Off First 6 Months | TPGSorry, these links exceed my quota of 2

Sorry, these links exceed my quota of 2

Sorry, these links exceed my quota of 2
5G Home Internet - Telstra
Sorry, these links exceed my quota of 2
Quite cheap and serviceable up to somewhat expensive but very fast.

Reply 2
NBN are fast pricing themselves out of the low-end of the market. They are certainly moving away from the original concept of providing a replacement for the old POTS service, leaving those who have a modest need for speed and data with nowhere to go.

It is past time for the Government to introduce a new Universal Service Obligation that requires the NBN to provide a basic, low-cost service available to all, much as the old USO required Telecom/Telstra to provide a basic telephone service to all.

NBN have been increasing the price on their low cost plans while doubling the speed on their high-speed plans for no extra cost.

eg from Leaptel:

If you’re currently on one of our high-speed plans – Full-Throttle, Turbo Boost or Super Sonic – and connected via FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) or HFC (Hybrid Fibre Coaxial), you’ll automatically receive a speed upgrade by the end of September. No action is needed, and your monthly bill will remain the same.

  • Fast (500Mbps/50Mbps) – Upgrades customers on our current Full-Throttle (100Mbps/20Mbps) plan to five times the download speed.

  • Superfast (750Mbps/50Mbps) – Replaces the current Turbo Boost (250Mbps/25Mbps) plan.

  • Ultrafast (1000Mbps/100Mbps) – Doubles the upload speed of our existing Super Sonic (1000Mbps/50Mbps) plan.

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My understanding is the main cost of an NBN plan offered by retailers is the NBN wholesale costs. This isn’t data dependent, but, is the cost to cover operations, maintenance and upgrades of the NBN as well as ensure the profitability of the NBN (government considers it, like other infrastructure, a user pays system).

Unlike electricity, data flow on the NBN is extremely cheap as its ability to transmit data is limited by the installed capacity. Once the capacity exists, data transfer costs, whether high or low, are likely to be similar. With electricity, electrons cost significant money to generate and are a significant portion of electricity charges as a result.

This is possibly why NBN plans are unlimited data. Provided capacity isn’t reached, no matter the amount of data transferred, the cost is similar. If capacity is reached, fair usage policies of the retailers to throttle usage.

I sympathise with your plight as the NBN was a Rudd (2009) Labor government decision, which impacted on almost everyone (anyone with home phone and home internet). The government decided what it believed every Australian needed, even if it wasn’t needed by many (such as seniors and those not connected). A ‘one fit all’ type approach was taken as a result. The one fit all type approach means pricing is also one fit all, except for connection speeds. Those which need more data quicker, pays more.

I know of seniors which share the same concerns you had raised. A common criticism is internet isn’t needed, but, to have home phone they are paying for parts (almost all) of NBN not needed. Even lowest NBN speeds (and their cost) is an overkill for making calls only.

I wish you luck in pursuing. I feel you may be pushing water uphill as there are many who don’t realise the benefits of NBN isn’t needed by some.

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nbn(r) was indeed a Rudd devised upgrade to our aging and costly communications system that relied largely on copper wire connections. However implementation was by the Liberal and National party Government. This ended up being a mix of technologies, supposedly cheaper and faster to install than the mostly fibre optic network envisaged by Labor. What it ended up being was a much more costly network to both implement and maintain.

@Cedric, a bit of history that you may already be aware of, so I’m sorry if it is.

Most people wanted Internet access and only a very few wanted just phone only service. Previously to the nbn, most people used internet plans that attached to the phone plan and used the copper network. This was called ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) we used here, Asynchronous just meant that one speed was faster than the other, here it meant that download speeds were faster than upload speeds. Now the way we connect via phone is opposite of the old system.

Speeds because of the way copper transmits signals topped out at about 25 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. Even on these systems, VoIP was available and very often offered cheap phone calls compared to the traditional POTS calls even to international destinations. There were a number of providers of VoIP plans. Some people even started to move to what were called “Naked ADSL” connections that did not have POTS calling available and relied on VoIP for any calls.

When the nbn(r) came in, for those who only wanted a very basic version of the nbn(r) there was the 12/1 Mbps plans. These did start out very cheap compared to the 25/5 Mbps and greater speed plans. It also required a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone connection if someone wished to use a home phone service. VoIP connection was incorporated into the internet plans as a standard, though calls had to be paid for as well as the data used (paid VoIP plans could be added for around $10 a month to cover all call costs both local and national including to mobiles). If all a person required was phone and a little email and or browsing, plans were offered by RSPs (Retail Service Providers) with fairly low data allowances e.g. 50 GB per month.

What has happened is that RSPs determine what plans they offer, this is not an NBN Co decision. For profits many RSPs have chosen to offer unlimited data plans as the almost standard package. If we want to delve into RSP nbn wholesale costs they are two main components, these are CVC and AVC. AVC is a fixed cost, it is the price paid for the speed tier for a premises and is a fixed cost based on the speed tier chosen e.g., a 12/1 Mbps AVC is the cheapest AVC cost. AVC includes a given amount of bandwidth thought it is not a large amount. CVC is the extra bandwidth and this adds cost for the extra data that the RSP pays to NBN Co.. RSPs pay for a “block” of data that they share out to their customers.

A lot of people want a lot of data, though some use a lot less than they think they need. RSPs buy the block of data that is going to give them as close as possible to their actual needs for their customers (slightly on the high side usually). Nowadays they can buy blocks dynamically as the need increases or decreases during a day. If they can sell a plan with unlimited data and the user uses little or very little data then the RSP gets more profit from the connection.

At various speed tiers NBN Co offers differing prices. Best price point for RSPs is around the 50/20 or 100/20 tiers as the most people seem to have these speed tiers and so discounts can be offered. Very high speed tiers have also had costs decrease and this decrease is reflected in plan prices.

The fixed bundle price for RSPs charged by NBN Co for just basic phone service remains at $12 per month. This price remains flat, it has not increased. What RSPs sell to customers is up to the RSP, they don’t have to offer a plan that they don’t wish to service. For 12/1 that NBN Co. fixed charge for plans that includes internet browsing, the price for 2025 Financial Year is $26.85 per month. Above this $26.85 per month is the CVC cost plus anything else they add in e.g., free email service, Fetch TV, and so on. To this RSPs add a margin for maintenance and cost of running a business for their own infrastructure and a profit margin. These costs are not cheap.

For your 25/10 speed tier the fixed cost charged by NBN Co to your RSP went up by $2.24 or roughly 9% on the previous price. See also that NBN Co offers discounts to RSPs based now on per user basis nbn launches new CVC pricing model | nbn. So the more a RSP buys the cheaper it becomes for them per user. See also this news item from 2023, further changes will be coming in 2026 that should see larger reductions in the cost of 25/5 plans (https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-gets-green-light-for-new-pricing-service-standards-601301). So for your large increase it would seem a bit of a grab by your RSP rather than a grab by the NBN Co..

For information purposes of the NBN Co current indicative wholesale pricing structure see

You may also like to read this from NBN Co

So, it is up to individual RSPs if they offer any particular speed and data plan when it comes to including browsing and or email service. This is not a Government mandated regulation. I understand your frustration at the costs though. I don’t know of any provider who offers even 12/1 basic that includes internet plan below $50 a month (some offer cheaper deals for the first six months or so, to new customers).

Telstra still has a Universal Service Obligation (USO) to provide a Standard Telephone Service (STS) and none of the other RSPs are obligated to do so. Telstra can provide this STS in a technology neutral way. This neutral way means they can choose how the service is connected e.g., Satellite in a remote area. So for Seniors and others who just want a phone service, then Telstra is the provider to go to and to ask for a STS.

The STS service costs $50 per month (it includes unlimited 13 number, local, national, and mobile calls) and comes with 2 GB of data allowance. Once the 2 GB is exceeded internet speed drops to 256 kbps. The 2 GB of data is incidental to the phone plan and only suitable for very limited internet usage and there is a possibility of unavailability during peak hours for some customers on the Telstra 4G Fixed Wireless network.

Using another provider or even Telstra with an actual internet plan may or most likely will be of similar cost, they will however have calls costs added though on a per use basis unless a VoIP included call plan is also added at a bit extra cost.

Another option is to take a plan on that has a discount and every 6 months change provider to another that offers a 6 month discount. You could keep doing this as long as there are different providers. This on most 25/5 or 25/10 plans means you could pay around $50 a month. Though this for some Seniors and others could be a bit daunting to undertake.

@Cedric An example of some of the discounted offers around. There is even a discounted plan that has 12 months at the discounted price (Broadband | nbnÂź Plans | Southern Phone)

You could also vary speed tiers and keep changing providers every 6 months and remain under the price you will be paying for your 25/10 package.

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Since you addressed your query to Kate Thwaites you are in Jagajaga (NE Melbourne metro).

Many of us in Nillumbik and surrounds are in grey or black spots so not a viable option for us, but if you are in an area with a strong consistent mobile signal, going mobile-only for phone and internet might be your only practical alternative excepting satellite that is relatively expensive and as with the NBN is more than you need.

A downside is you would have to give up your landline number and update all your accounts to only your mobile number.

I accept that is a pragmatic work-around and does not address nor solve the underlying policy problem you raised, of which I am empathetic. The multi-mix technology approach was and remains a mess and will be neither easy nor cheap to rectify and will require ongoing government will to fix it.

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Chapter 2 Rollout of the National Broadband Network – Parliament of Australia was the original plan.
In 2006 it was Helen Coonan (Lib) who was Communications Minister, however it was Stephen Conroy (Labor) who pushed for Fibre to the home. He realised that copper phone lines corrode and the maximum speed could not be increased. The solution was fibre. It does not require maintenance and the speed is controlled by the equipment at each end. If different colour lasers are used on a single strand you can get a huge speeds which most politicians did not have the forethought for. Fibre all in suburban areas would have been cheaper than not making a technical decision which uses such things as Fibre to the node which few knew what it was, and HFCC which used cable TV cables and was withdrawn when the ACCC penalised the telcos because the advertised speeds were not possible. So we are now paying to replace Fibre to the node with the original plan fibre to 600,000 homes!

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