The Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition (RRRCC) has welcomed NBN Co’s new measures to support better bush comms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Communications services are a vital utility. As more people work from home and students are asked to study remotely, households will require more data to keep connected. NBN Co’s offer of an additional 45GB of data for nbn Sky Muster customers over the next three months will allow regional consumers greater flexibility to engage with education, telehealth, businesses and government services without worrying about exceeding their data cap.

“This is a positive step towards ensuring that families in regional, rural and remote Australia are not left high and dry during this time of crisis because of limited data quotas,” said Tony Mahar, Chief Executive at the National Farmers Federation (NFF).

“It’s now up to telcos to pass on this extra data to consumers.”

The RRRCCs priorities for action include five goals to ensure that regional areas have the same access to communications services as their metropolitan counterparts. The expansion of unmetered content on nbn Sky Muster Plus plans will help to close the gap between the experience of consumers in metropolitan and regional areas.

“Households in our major cities now mostly expect that they’ll have an unlimited home broadband service. For people in the Sky Muster footprint, having the option of an nbn Sky Muster Plus plan that doesn’t meter most traffic, except video streaming and traffic via a VPN, is a game-changer,” said Teresa Corbin, CEO of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN).

The RRRCC thanks NBN Co for their ongoing engagement and efforts to provide better bush communications to regional, rural and remote Australians.

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