Think like an Aussie: full speed ahead with 5G

There have been big shifts in the Australian telco industry in the past week. Multiple telcos introduced new 5G mobile plans – albeit with capped speeds. This move is unsurprising to those of us watching the mobile space. Arguably, from the moment Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in 2007, the push for faster and faster mobile networks to support our growing use of and dependence on the internet has been undeniable.

The widespread adoption of 5G as the latest and greatest instalment has been accelerated in large part by the pandemic. 5G promises faster and more reliable internet speeds, as well as the ability to support a greater number of devices and applications. This means more possibilities in the palm of our hand, driving innovation and growth in various industries such as mobile gaming, internet of things, and autonomous vehicles. Providing better connectivity to more people sounds like a win-win situation, an important factor for us at Aussie as we strive to live up to our core value: ‘Be good to people’. 

We, at Aussie Broadband, took a pause at this fork in the road and reflected on our own mobile offerings. With a market as competitive as the mobile space, we recognised the need to stay on the cutting edge to avoid our customers churning to a better deal elsewhere. The question then becomes, do we match the latest product dreamt up by a competitor? Or is there a different path we could take – one that would better serve our customers? 

The challenge posed by accelerating the adoption of 5G is that we begin to see more traffic on that network, therefore increasing our own operational costs to support that demand. One of our competitor’s solutions to this is capping speeds for lower-tier 5G plans at 150mbps or 250mbps, for example. In isolation, that seems like a good deal – especially in comparison to your average 4G speeds of up to 100 Mbps. But it’s a long way from the potential 500 Mbps speeds an uncapped 5G connection can offer.

Capping speeds effectively limits customers’ full access to the capabilities of their 5G devices, and the service they are paying us for. It therefore doesn’t pass that Aussie test of being good to people. 

And so, we’ve taken a good-hard look at our plans and are choosing to go full speed ahead with our newest ‘Fast Track’ mobile plan: 5G speeds with no cap and 30GB of data for $45 a month.  We have also upgraded our top-tier ‘Future Now’ plan, offering 5G speeds with no cap and 220GB of data for $70 a month – an additional 20GB of data at no extra cost to our customers. We are so confident these are great deals for everyone, we’re offering the first month free on new plans to lighten the burden of switching for both new and existing customers.

As lovers of entertainment, haters of the loading circle of doom, and believers in being honest and transparent with customers, we don’t believe 5G should be capped. If you want it – and pay for it – you should get it. Having uncapped plans lets customers fully enjoy the perks of 5G: uploading and downloading at lightning-fast speeds; streaming in high- if not ultra-high definition; and – most of all – having a smooth experience. 

Forks in the road like this come up a lot at Aussie, as we find our own path less travelled for the better of the industry and for our customers. Quite often the harder choice – both for our profit margins and infrastructure – is what would benefit those using our services or provide some healthy competition to create better offerings for everyone. 

We’ve reaped the benefits of these hard choices over the years. We hear from our customers time and time again how refreshing it is to feel like their needs are being heard and addressed. It’s for that reason we inspire trust and loyalty, with our customers being more likely to keep our services, expand to our new offerings, and recommend them to others. 

This trust has been recognised by the likes of Roy Morgan, clinching us the #1 spot in the Most Trusted Telco category, and across various review sites like ProductReview.com.au and Google Reviews. We know these reviews and ratings matter – they are one of the key factors that push the needle when people are changing their internet or mobile service provider. After all, customers are investing in us just as much as us in them. All we ever try to do is use that Aussie ingenuity to find a sweet spot that’s a win for our customers, a win for the industry as a whole, and a win for us. That’s the actual Aussie way.