Just days after NBN Co locked in a new wholesale pricing deal, internet provider Aussie Broadband has announced sweeping changes to its residential and business NBN plan ranges.
The Victoria-based telco has confirmed that monthly prices for its fastest NBN speeds, including gigabit-speed NBN 1000, will drop from November 21. However, it’s not all good news: customers on lower-cost plans, including the in-demand NBN 50 speed tier, are set to cop a $6 per month price rise.
If you want to compare Aussie Broadband to other current NBN prices and deals, we’ve compiled options on our database across several speed tiers below.
The following table shows a selection of sponsored unlimited data Standard Plus Evening Speed (NBN 50), and Premium Evening Speed (NBN 100) plans on Canstar Blue’s database with links to referral partners.
 |
1 Month Contract (1 month min. cost $99) Typical evening speed of 97Mbps
|
Unlimited Data/month |
$99 Cost/month |
Go to Site |
 |
1 Month Contract (1 month min. cost $79.99) Typical evening speed of 97Mbps
|
Unlimited Data/month |
$79.99 Cost/month |
Go to Site |
 |
1 Month Contract (1 month min. cost $80) Typical evening speed of 50Mbps
|
Unlimited Data/month |
$80.00 Cost/month |
Go to Site |
Unlimited Home Standard (NBN 50) Plans
The following table shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 50 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost (excluding discounts), from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool above to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
Unlimited Home Fast (NBN 100) Plans
The table below shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 100 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of monthly cost, from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
How are prices changing?
Aussie Broadband currently offers eight unlimited data NBN plans, which come with optional extras such as modems, home phone and mobile bundles. Plan prices begin at $59 per month for the Starter option with download speeds up to 12 megabits per second (Mbps), through to $149 monthly for speeds up to 1000Mbps.
Under the upcoming price structure, NBN 12, NBN 25, and NBN 50 plans will each increase in price by $6 monthly, or $72 more per year. Prices for Aussie Broadband’s faster plans will all decrease: NBN 100/20 and NBN 100/40 plans will fall by $4 per month, NBN 250 by $10, and NBN 1000 by $20 monthly.
Here’s the full list of NBN plan costs before and after the November 21 changes.
- Starter NBN (NBN 12): $59 per month, $65 per month from November 21
- Casual NBN (NBN 25): $69 per month, $75 per month from November 21
- Everyday NBN (NBN 50): $79 per month, $85 per month from November 21
- NBN 75/20: $89 per month, no price change
- Family NBN (NBN 100/20): $99 per month, $95 per month from November 21
- Family + NBN (NBN 100/40): $109 per month, $105 per month from November 21
- Power User NBN (NBN 250): $129 per month, $119 per month from November 21
- Power House NBN (NBN 1000): $149 per month, $125 per month from November 21
The price changes will also apply to Aussie Broadband’s OptiComm fibre plans, which are available to selected addresses in major metro areas. These plans offer the same speeds and monthly prices as Aussie Broadband’s NBN range.
Obviously, this is great news for customers wanting to take advantage of the fast performance offered on Aussie Broadband’s top speed plans, as you’ll save up to $240 annually when compared to current pricing.
However, the majority of Australians are still on NBN 12, NBN 25, or NBN 50 plans, with NBN 50 alone accounting for 44% of the NBN market share as of June 2023. So, the customers who will be hit hardest are also those most in need of an affordable, everyday broadband option.
The following table shows a selection of published unlimited Aussie Broadband NBN plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost (excluding discounts), from the lowest to highest. Use our comparison tool to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
Why are Aussie Broadband’s NBN prices changing?
The price cut for high-speed plans, but not for more popular and affordable speed tiers, can be attributed to the upcoming changes to NBN Co’s Special Access Undertaking (SAU). This is the wholesale pricing agreement that outlines how internet providers can access and resell NBN services, and has a direct impact on how much you’ll pay for your NBN plan.
The newly-finalised SAU update means that NBN Co will be removing Connectivity Virtual Circuit (CVC) charges for NBN 100, NBN 250 and NBN 1000 wholesale tiers. CVC is essentially the bandwidth cost for a telco, so the larger the CVC, the more network capacity that can be offered to customers.
Scrapping this in favour of flat-rate pricing makes managing costs easier for NBN providers, and this means customers can access these speeds for a lower monthly fee. However, CVC costs will still apply for speeds tiers of 50Mbps and below until July 1, 2026, and be charged on an individual basis rather than pooled across all eight speed tiers.
Aussie Broadband Managing Director, Phillip Britt, acknowledged that many customers may be negatively impacted by the upcoming price rise.
“By not only continuing to charge CVC, but doing so on an individual basis, the NBN has effectively forced our hand to raise prices for the majority of our broadband customers – and at a time of heightened financial uncertainty,” he said.
“Regardless of the reasons, we know this will hurt for some customers, and we are here to help. Our customer service teams are ready to support our customers and find solutions to keep Aussies connected through financial hardship as best we can.”
Will other telcos also raise NBN prices?
As the NBN SAU affects all NBN providers, it’s likely that other telcos will also tweak their plan costs in the coming months.
In anticipation of a new SAU agreement, Telstra confirmed last month that it will change NBN prices from November 1, with NBN 25 and NBN 50 plans to increase by $5 monthly. Similarly to Aussie Broadband, the telco will also cut the price of its premium NBN 250 and NBN 1000 plans (albeit by only $5 and $10 per month respectively).
In general, NBN customers should be prepared for other telcos to follow suit and potentially raise prices on NBN 12, NBN 25, and NBN 50 plans by 2024. NBN 50 plans currently begin at about $65 per month, with most telcos falling in the $70-$80 per month price range; on the low end of the scale, NBN 12 starts at just under $50.
Looking at the changes confirmed by Aussie Broadband and Telstra, these plans could rise by around $5 per month to account for increased wholesale prices. However, the updated SAU indicates that NBN Co will also launch a cheaper basic broadband plan aimed at low-income homes, which could be offered for just half the price of existing NBN 12 plans.
The upside to the new NBN price structure is that faster, more reliable speeds will soon be more affordable for many households. Quarterly wholesale broadband reports from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission show that when discounts are available, customers are keen to switch to plans of 100Mbps or faster – but tend to drop back down to a cheaper tier when prices rise.
With NBN Co currently rolling out Fibre to the Premises technology upgrades to hundreds of suburbs, more homes now have access to super-fast NBN. So a wide-scale wholesale price cut for the fastest speed tiers could help entice customers to make the switch, provided that telcos pass those savings on through lower plan fees.
“In an era where more Australians are relying on the internet for work, education, and entertainment, it is crucial to ensure that high-speed, unlimited internet plans are affordable and accessible,” Mr Britt said.
“On this we agree with NBN, and this SAU reflects their commitment to continue to grow broadband infrastructure across Australia, making faster speeds available to more Aussies.”
Share this article