We recently reported that NBN Co is set to increase wholesale costs to internet service providers (ISPs) in July, which will more than likely increase the costs of the best NBN plans.
Well, it seems a couple of ISPs have jumped the gun and raised their prices a little earlier than expected, with costs increasing by as much as AU$10 p/m, depending on the speed tier.
At the moment, we’ve only noticed these increases from Exetel and Superloop – two of our longstanding favourite providers here at TechRadar – and they affect plans from NBN 25 through to NBN 250. Superloop’s NBN 1000 plan is, for now, unaffected.
Not only has the timing of these increases come as a bit of a shock, but the AU$10 p/m increase on both providers’ popular NBN 100 plans is also much more than we’d speculated.
We’ve also noticed that both providers now charge the same as each other. Previously Exetel was the cheaper of the two, but that’s no longer the case. It’s not a complete surprise, however, considering the two are sister companies.
Here’s how Exetel and Superloop NBN plans have been affected. We’ve only taken into account the ongoing cost following introductory discounts.
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
Before |
After |
|---|---|---|
|
Exetel: NBN 25NBN 50NBN 100NBN 250 |
AU$63.99AU$79.99AU$84.99AU$98.99 |
AU$72AU$85AU$95AU$104 |
|
Superloop: NBN 25NBN 50NBN 100NBN 250NBN 1000 |
AU$69AU$81AU$89AU$99AU$109 |
AU$72AU$85AU$95AU$104AU$109 |
Will other providers increase costs early?
As we’ve said, we’ve only noticed Exetel and Superloop as being the only two providers to increase costs. Other ISPs may soon follow suit rather than wait until the new financial year to implement their expected price hikes.
What to do now?
Given we can’t guarantee what Australia’s ISPs will do leading up to the increased wholesale costs, we would recommend taking a look at your current NBN plan and deciding if you want to switch to lock in a cheaper price for at least six months (the majority of NBN providers currently offer a six-month discount which will have to be honoured).
We’ve picked out a recommended NBN plan for each speed tier below. Do note that in order to sign-up for an NBN 250 or NBN 1000 plan, you’ll need either a fibre to the premises (FTTP) or hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) fixed-line connection. If you don’t, then you may be eligible for a free fibre upgrade, and most NBN providers will be able to handle the installation process for you.
Of course, these are our top recommendations at the time of writing. We’ll be keeping a close eye on NBN plan prices over the coming days and weeks to see if any other price hikes are implemented.
