Millions of Aussies to be slugged with higher internet bills – what it means for you
Millions of Australians are facing a rise in their internet bills, the latest blow to households as the national cost of living falls.
NBN Co increased wholesale prices for residential subscriptions on July 1, with the major telecom companies passing on the increases to households.
The cost of the cheaper NBN 25 Mbps plans and the faster NBN 50 Mbps options will increase by around $5 per month.
The increase comes less than a year after customers experienced a similar surge, bringing the total increase since October to 10 to 13 percent. Courier post reported.
The latest price hike will affect around 70 per cent of households, with Telstra’s standard NBN plan increasing to more than $100 a month for the first time.
Telstra, Optus, Aussie Broadband, Dodo, Superloop, iPrimus and Exetel have all notified customers of the price increases in July, with other telecom providers likely to follow suit.
Telstra, Australia’s largest internet provider, has increased the price of its faster NBN 50 Mbps plan from $100 to $105 per month.
The NBN 25 Mbps plan has increased from $85 to $89.
NBN Co increased its wholesale prices for residential subscriptions from July 1, with the major telecoms companies set to pass the increases on to Australian households
While prices of standard NBN subscriptions will increase, some more expensive and faster subscriptions, including NBN 250 Mbps and 1,000 Mbps, will actually decrease.
For example, Telstra’s NBN 1000 Mbps plan is expected to drop by $20 per month.
Shadow Communications spokesman David Coleman accused the federal government of being “completely unaware of the cost of living that families face.”
“It is unbelievable, but the Albanian government has supported huge price increases for NBNs, which are deliberately aimed at hitting families with cheap subscriptions the hardest,” he said.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland refuted the coalition’s criticism, saying wholesale prices for the cheapest NBN subscriptions “are cheaper today than they were 12 months ago”.
The cost of the cheaper NBN 25 Mbps plans and faster NBN 50 Mbps options will increase by around $5 per month
Over the next four years, NBN is expected to receive an additional $2.4 billion in funding from the Albanian government. According to Rowland, privatization is not an option.
Joel Gibson, from the telecom comparison site WhistleOut.com.autold 9News NBN Co is trying to encourage Australians to opt for higher internet speeds and says these higher speeds are not necessary.
“For an average household of four, a Standard NBN 50 subscription is sufficient,” he said.
‘The ACCCs’Netflix test‘ has discovered that 99 percent of Standard NBN subscriptions can stream Netflix in HD on 4 screens simultaneously.’