Australia’s major internet providers cautiously welcomed a fresh plan to rejig NBN pricing and service standards, but indicated their position is very much conditional on how NBN Co chooses to engage in the revised process.
NBN Co offered some further concessions late on Friday last week, including a three-year phaseout of variable bandwidth charges, a cheaper starting price for 100Mbps-plus plans, and service standards enshrined in regulatory agreements.
However, prices would still rise every year through to 2040, and the new proposal changes the way the rises are calculated.
Boiling that down to a ‘plain English’ definition proved challenging on Friday; there are a lot of variables in the calculation formula, not all easily explained.
In addition, the quantum of price rises, and approximately when they would kick in, is still not clear, and modellers at several retailers privately indicated they would need additional time to work through potential scenarios.
Retail service providers (RSPs) will meet with NBN Co, ACCC and government officials at a series of roundtables scheduled for later this week.
Several offered preliminary assessments in the hours after NBN Co released its discussion paper at midday AEST on Friday last week.
A Telstra spokesperson told iTnews that it is “reviewing the [proposal] in detail, but it looks like it includes some positive steps in the right direction, as well as some areas that will need further attention, including on service quality.”
“We look forward to working constructively with NBN Co and the ACCC in forthcoming workshops to work that through,” Telstra’s spokesperson said.
“Our ambition through the process will continue to be ensuring the wholesale terms deliver better outcomes for our customers, sustainable industry economics and increased use of an important national asset.”
Optus’ vice president of regulatory and public affairs Andrew Sheridan similarly “welcomed this reset” as “reassurance that we are heading in the right direction.”
“If NBN and industry continue to work constructively, Optus is confident we can provide Australian customers with the outcomes they deserve,”Sheridan said.
“It’s critical for Australia’s digital future success that Australians can access connectivity that is high quality and stable at stable prices.”
TPG Telecom’s general manager of external James Rickards said the phaseout of bandwidth charges “for all speed tiers is both welcome and long overdue”.
However, Rickards pushed for the changes to occur immediately - something NBN Co acknowledged would be an issue, but does not want to do.
He also raised concerns about the affordability of sub-100Mbps plans, as well as on the prospects of constructive collaboration with NBN Co.
Other retailers contacted by iTnews were either not in a position to offer an assessment, or wanted more time to calculate the impacts of NBN Co’s proposed changes.
