NBN Co sought feedback on its wholesale pricing for selected services. The paper was split into two parts:

  • Part A focused on the short term (24 month) residential services discount bundles as well as the cost for connectivity virtual circuit (CVC). CVC is the network capacity purchased by retail service providers (RSPs).
  • Part B looks at the longer-term pricing construct of wholesale services, changes to voice only and business grade services as well as an offering to support low-income households.

ACCAN argues that in the short and long term, prices for consumers must not increase given that nbn Co is able to provision additional capacity at no extra cost. This can be achieved without changing the current pricing construct. To ensure services can keep up with growing demand for data, nbn Co should continue to provision additional capacity as part of the bundled prices, as well as making capacity cheaper for RSPs to purchase.

ACCAN welcomes the proposal to offer a targeted service aimed at making the cost of broadband more affordable. However, we are concerned that the proposed retail price ($40-$50/month) is still out of reach for low-income households. We are also concerned that the proposed speed of service and data allowance will not be sufficient to allow households to fully engage with the digital economy. ACCAN recommends:

  • A retail price of $30/month potentially achieved through a gap payment contribution from Federal Government.
  • That the service provides 50 Mbps download speeds, with no limit on data usage.
  • Removing the eligibility criteria that requires a premise to have never been or to have been unconnected for a certain amount of time.
  • Providing the concessional service to all access technologies (including fixed wireless and satellite users).

 

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