NBN Co creates 44 new biz fibre zones, offers wholesale discounts

NBN Co has created 44 new nbn Business Fibre Zones to deliver premium business-grade fibre to an additional 60,000 eligible businesses premises across Australia, on demand, with no charge for the design and construction of fibre to the premises when they order a premium business nbn Enterprise Ethernet service. 

The new zones will be available to eligible businesses from 1 September 2021. If a business customer signs up to a three-year plan through their internet retailer, the retailer will not be charged an upfront connection cost.

Brad Whitcomb, Chief Customer Officer at NBN Co, said, “Businesses are increasingly using business nbn Enterprise Ethernet to support cloud-based business operations, remote file storage, content hosting, unified communications, large file distribution, and to connect head office locations. However, for decades the location of a business — whether it’s in the city or outer metropolitan area, peri-urban fringe, regional city, town or rural area — has been the determining factor in the price they pay for business-grade fibre.” 

The Business Fibre Initiative aims to level the playing field for businesses by reducing the significant variation that has existed in the cost of business broadband services in regional and rural areas compared to CBD Zones.

Eligible businesses within any of the zones that order an Enterprise Ethernet service will receive their chosen speed tier and service based on the same CBD-equivalent wholesale charge that is applied to a company based in a CBD Zone.

NBN Co has said it will also introduce further discounts for Enterprise Ethernet. The discounted wholesale pricing will be offered in relation to new and existing customers within all nbn Business Fibre Zones. The company will also offer the wholesale pricing discounts to eligible businesses outside of new and existing zones.

From 9 August 2021, for eligible businesses located within any of the business zones, NBN Co will offer no upfront build cost to internet providers when they order an Enterprise Ethernet product. Additionally, if the internet provider signs up for a three-year Enterprise Ethernet service, they will have no upfront connection cost.

For businesses that are located outside an existing nbn Business Fibre Zone, customers are quoted for the design and construction of their required fibre extension to their premises as part of the ordering process. It is common practice within the industry that when unforeseen costs, such as additional civil works, trenching and site restoration are identified, those costs are passed on to resellers and then to end customers.

To eliminate any uncertainty, NBN Co is introducing a new Fibre Build Quote Guarantee. For all locations in the nbn fixed line footprint, NBN Co will offer RSPs a guarantee on all Fibre Build Quotes. It will not pass on any variations to resellers, providing them and end customers much greater certainty on their upfront costs.

NBN Co will also introduce a Service Delivery Guarantee, under which it commits to complete the design and construction of new fibre infrastructure in most business locations within the nbn fixed line footprint within 50 business days. This is designed to be the first step of many improvements to help ensure resellers and customers are able to get connected more quickly and easily.

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