Ruslan Kogan - Founder and CEO, Kogan.com
Kogan has become Australia's latest National Broadband Network (NBN) reseller with the company's NBN service plans going live following the launch of its Kogan Internet brand and the expansion of its partnership with Vodafone.
There are three NBN plan options on the table involving Bronze, Silver and Gold, providing unlimited data, under a pay-as-you go access on a month-to-month basis.
The Bronze plan starts at $58.90 per month plus an upfront modem cost of $69; Silver $68.90 per month and Gold $88.90 per month. Each bundle is marked with a disclaimer saying 'speeds may vary'. The service is supplied to Kogan through its existing partnership with Vodafone.
As a special launch offer, eligible customers can sign up to the Kogan NBN Silver tier for $58.90 per month for the first 24 months, if they sign up before 30 June this year.
Kogan.com executive director, David Shafer, said with the recent improvements in the NBN, and the launch of Kogan Internet, it plans to shake up the home internet market.
“We are always working hard to make the most in-demand products and services more accessible and we expect that Kogan Internet’s NBN plans will shake up the market with their affordable, flexible and simple offerings,” Shafer said.
“It is important that Aussies understand that, even if they thought they found a good deal in their current ADSL or cable connection, there is no guarantee their existing provider will continue to offer the best value service in the age of NBN, so it’s worth shopping around."
Shafer stated that when Kogan Mobile was launched, hundreds of thousands of consumers made the switch from their old mobile phone providers.
“Following the success of Kogan Mobile in providing more competitive and affordable mobile phone plans, we are excited to expand our partnership to launch Kogan NBN,” Vodafone Australia fixed broadband general manager, Matthew Lobb, said.
“For far too long Australians have had to put up with incumbent ISP’s who are more interested in maintaining the status quo than delivering better broadband. We believe more competition is always better for Australian broadband consumers and are proud to support it.”
The news follows days after NBN Co revealed it was conducting its first 5G tests in Melbourne with its wireless technology partner, Ericsson.
The tests will use 100 MHz of bandwidth in the national network builder’s current 3.5GHz spectrum assets on 5G New Radio equipment. 100 MHz of bandwidth is the current minimum amount of bandwidth required to launch 5G, as defined by the 3GPP standards.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that nearly 60,000 Australians are due to receive compensation from the country’s largest telco over misleading National Broadband Network (NBN) speed claims.
Late last year, Telstra, Optus and TPG all agreed to offer refunds to customers who may have received slower NBN speeds than what was offered in the products they bought through the resellers.
In each case, the promise of compensation was made following action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which spent much of the latter part of 2017 scrutinising NBN retail service providers (RSPs) and their NBN marketing collateral.
