Consumers jumping to faster NBN plans, says ACCC
More than 400,000 residential broadband customers moved to higher speed plans in the June 2021 quarter, a report from the ACCC has shown.
Aussies have seen greater access to faster NBN speed tiers as of recent, with infrastructure works underway to open up even greater speeds to customers. The report indicates that almost three-quarters of all NBN wholesale connections are now at speeds of 50mbps or above, with over 17% at 100mbps or above.
“Most broadband customers are now using higher speed tiers and that is a result of more retail providers and NBN promoting higher speed plans,” ACCC Commissioner, Anna Brakey said.
| Customer distribution | 12Mbps | 25Mbps | 50Mbps | 100Mbps+ |
| December 2017 | 1,022,494 | 1,884,662 | 158,959 | 400,848 |
| June 2021 | 968,644 | 1,165,170 | 4,585,863 | 1,451,104 |
ACCC: Share of customers across NBN speed tiers
Retailers also purchased more CVC from NBN Co as customers have relied more heavily on their connections. A number of service providers recently pushed back against the CVC charge and COVID relief credit offered by NBN Co, accusing the company of profiting from the pandemic while retailers struggled under higher customer demand.
The ACCC report noted that the four major retail service providers maintained a fairly stable market share, while Aussie Broadband saw one of the most significant rises amongst the smaller telcos.
Do customers need faster speeds?
We recently broke down the differences between the NBN speed tiers, including what household size each plan would suit.
Those in households with a greater number of connected devices may find faster speed tiers are able to provide a more stable internet connection, while one-or-two person households with low broadband requirements may be able to save money by considering a plan in the Basic speed tier.
Those frequently streaming high-definition video, gaming or uploading content may want to consider higher speed tiers to ensure their internet remains stable and fast throughout the busiest periods of the day when congestion across the network can occur.
NBN Co is focusing on infrastructure updates to allow more homes to access its Superfast and Ultrafast speed tiers, the two fastest available to households across the network. Whether Aussies will flock to these extra fast speeds when eligible remains to be seen.
Looking to find and compare plans in your area? Head over to our broadband hub, or check out some popular plans in the table below.