NBN Co is being urged to reconsider its focus on delivering faster top-end speeds, and expand its plans by raising speeds on its lowest tier, setting a new baseline of 50Mbps, according to a consultation paper.
Responding to NBN Co's latest consultation paper, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) remarks that the wholesaler is too focused on introducing faster speeds and NBN 2000 plans launching in September.
The consumer advocacy group’s submission outlines several recommendations for the wholesaler, including detailing the benefits of 2Gbs plans for consumers to ensure that NBN investment in such plans "does not entrench a digital divide within Australia's broadband market". However, the most notable suggestion is for the wholesaler to develop a "medium-term to upgrade the entry level plan from 25Mbps to 50+Mbps".
ACCAN requests that NBN Co provide a rationale for retaining the NBN 25 category as the base offer, including outlining affordability concerns for low-income and low-use consumers. ACCAN also notes that it "does not consider 25/5 to be a fixed speed" in today's online climate.
To combat this, ACCAN recommends NBN Co "give greater consideration to increasing the speed, and reducing the price, of the entry level offer, in order to secure faster internet speeds for Australian consumers who would benefit from the stricter price controls that such a plan offers".
NBN Co acknowledged that NBN 50 plans are the most popular among households and businesses in Australia, and expects the tier to hold that position through to FY29. However, the wholesaler has continued to argue that the entry level plan should remain under 50Mbps, reinforcing the need for NBN 25 plans.
What does this mean for your NBN 25 plan?
While these suggestions are grounded in ACCAN's consumer advocacy mandate of ensuring that NBN Co's service is up to scratch, there's no guarantee that these recommendations will come to fruition.
If you're currently signed up for an NBN 25 plan, there's still arguably no better time to consider upgrading to the next tier of NBN 50. According to recent ACCC data, 50Mbps plans — otherwise known as Standard plans — are the most popular speed tier, with 3.97 million active services at the end of 2024. NBN 25 plans on the other hand, only claimed 1.75 million active services.
NBN 25 plans are ideal for one- or two-person households, or seniors with low internet usage, but they can become a bottleneck if multiple users are social media scrolling, browsing and streaming in HD simultaneously.
Most NBN 50 plans will provide more than enough bandwidth to support up to four users, including 4K streaming, internet browsing, social media scrolling and seamless video calls. And thanks to some great introductory offers in the first 6 months, some NBN 50 plans can cost around the same as NBN 25 plans, giving you better internet for the same price.
We've rounded up some of the most popular NBN 50 plans in the widget below. If you're eager to compare faster plans, check out our NBN 100, NBN 250 and NBN 1000 guides.
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