Australia-first flexible plans from Aussie Broadband

Since this article has been written there has been a significant change to the nbn landscape,we believe it is now viable to offer an unlimited service, where CVC bandwidth is provisioned correctly. You can read more about our stance on unlimited in this blog

Aussie Broadband has gone one further in the new plans arena by launching an Australia-first range of internet plans with unprecedented data flexibility for customers.

Managing Director, Phillip Britt, said the new plans will allow residential and small business customers tailor their data allowances to their individual needs in a way that has never been seen in Australia before.

“We believe this is a first among Australian telcos,” he said. “Our new system will give our customers unprecedented flexibility in choosing an nbn plan that is perfect for their needs, and not force them to pay for more data than they really need.

“As an example, a customer might choose a plan with 600, 700 or 800 GB, rather than being forced to always pay at the next tier of 1000 GB even when they never use that much.”

Phil said Aussie was also excited to announce a new speed tier – 150/100 – on top of its 250/100 speed tier plans, available in particular areas.

“These will allow even more Aussie Broadband customers to experience the full speeds the nbn is capable of delivering,” he said.

He emphasised again that Aussie will continue to steer clear of unlimited plans whilst the current nbn pricing structure remains in place. “In our view, unlimited currently means congestion becomes virtually unavoidable, and we have a commitment to manage our network to avoid congestion wherever possible.

“We would add that all these new plans now have 1Mbit shaping when you reach your data limit, rather than the current 256 Kbit shaping limit.”

He confirmed that the nbn’s temporary “Focus on 50” program, announced in December, has also meant Aussie has been able to offer a small discount on some of its 50/20 plans for the next 12 months, other than for fixed wireless customers. For example, it’s 50/20 1000 GB plan is now $85 a month, which is $10 cheaper than previously advertised.

“The Focus on 50 program provides a small rebate on the costs of 50/20 speed tiers which allows us to order 50% extra CVC for no additional cost,” said Phil.

“This isn’t particularly useful as we have already been providing the correct amount of CVC to our customers, so there is little benefit in increasing it further. And the structure of the rebate means that we can’t reduce our current CVC costs instead. However, we have been able to incorporate a small discount for some of our 50/20 plans.”

Phil reiterated how disappointed Aussie Broadband is that nbn has specifically excluded fixed wireless from the new pricing.

“This means that the cost of larger data allowances for these services has increased significantly. Unlike many other providers, we are choosing to continue to offer 50/20 speeds to fixed wireless customers but we have had to pass on the increased costs associated with this.

“As a regional-based ISP, we’ll continue to advocate for fixed wireless pricing to be equal to fixed line pricing and if we’re successful, we’ll pass those savings immediately back to customers.”

More information about the new plans can be found in the attached FAQ or on the Aussie Broadband website at aussiebroadband.com.au.