NBN Co launches new wholesale broadband agreement

NBN Co is set to launch its latest wholesale broadband agreement (WBA5) with retail service providers (RSPs) on 1 December 2023.

The new, three-year agreement reflects the wholesale price terms of the Special Access Undertaking (SAU)Variation, which was accepted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in October 2023.

So far 38 RSPs have signed up for the WBA5 contract.

It follows more than two years of detailed consultation, and a rejection, involving the ACCC, RSPs, consumer advocacy groups and NBN Co.

As part of the new SAU variation, NBN Co has removed capacity charges and introduced AVC-only pricing for its 100 Mbps speed. 

Other measures include retaining the $50 bundle price from the November SAU Variation as the ‘floor’ price for the 50 Mbps service, together with Connectivity Virtual Circuit (CVC) inclusions for the 50 Mbps service increasing by 40 per cent, from 2.5 Mbps to 3.5 Mbps. 

The 25 Mbps wholesale bundle price will be reduced to $26 and the 12 Mbps wholesale bundle price will be reduced to $24.40, for fixed line and fixed wireless products. 

For the 12, 25 and 50 Mbps wholesale speed tiers, the CVC TC-4 overage rate will be reduced from $8/Mbps to $5.50/Mbps and the rate will be reduced to $4.50/Mbps in FY25 and $3.50/Mbps in FY26. TC-4 CVC overage charges will be removed from all fixed line and fixed wireless products by 1 July 2026. 

“Our wholesale prices have resisted inflation and have not increased in real terms over the last ten years despite
the fact that most of our input costs have been subject to inflation,” said Jane van Beelen, chief legal and regulatory affairs officer at NBN Co.

“We have committed to provide the industry with long-term price certainty and make twice yearly adjustments to
our data inclusions on the entry-level and mid-speed tiers to account for customers’ growing data demands.

“Our new wholesale pricing framework will limit future wholesale price rises and afford NBN the opportunity to
earn sufficient revenue to continue investing in the network to deliver faster speeds and more data capacity to
customers now and in the years ahead.”