nbn co launches wholesale pricing review

nbn co has revealed it is working with retail service providers to develop new wholesale price and discount options for low-income Australians.

The company has released an industry-wide consultation paper on wholesale pricing seeking feedback on how new pricing and discount constructs could encourage nbn take-up among price-sensitive segments of the market.

nbn co is proposing reforms including introducing a new lower cost 100 Mbps service offering that provides upload speeds of 20 Mbps — compared to the 40 Mbps upload speeds in current 100 Mbps plans — to reflect the fact that Australian consumers download far more than they upload.

The company has also increased the connectivity virtual circuit capacity inclusion for 100 Mbps and above plans from 2.5 Mbps to 3 Mbps, to allow for a performance increase for 100 Mbps plans. The wholesale cost for 100 Mbps bundle plans will remain unchanged at $65.

The pricing review consultation paper has been sent to the more than 50 nbn retail service providers, as well as interest groups such as telecommunications consumer body ACCAN and other stakeholders.

As well as improving take-up in underserviced segments, the company is seeking input on ways to promote take-up of higher speeds, lay the groundwork for future pricing consultations, and improve support and increase the ease of doing business for retail service providers.

“We’re working collaboratively with retail service providers (RSPs) to develop new nbn wholesale price and discount options and bundle discount inclusions that will deliver a better customer experience to more Australians, and meet their changing needs,” nbn co Chief Customer Officer Residential Brad Whitcomb said.

“As part of this process, we’ll be balancing the economics of our wholesale pricing structure with the commercial imperatives of RSPs, and the very reasonable expectations of residential and business customers around product affordability and choice. We want to work with RSPs to find solutions to bring the benefits of high-speed broadband to more customers, particular those for whom price is a major consideration.”

Image courtesy NBN Co.

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