Credit: NBN Co
Very high speed National Broadband Network (NBN) services of over 100 Mbps declined by around 195,000 services in the September quarter.
The decline coincided with the scaling back of the so-called ‘Focus on Fast’ promotion by the network’s builder, NBN Co, with customers on promotional offers returning to their previous speed tiers.
This is according to the latest NBN Wholesale Market Indicators Report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which contains information on NBN Co’s provision of wholesale services to retail service providers.
The latest report covers the three months to 30 September and reveals that more than 8.5 million residential broadband services are now on the NBN, with over 75 per cent of them on high-speed services of at least 50 Mbps.
Despite the decline in 100 Mbps-plus services, the September 2021 quarter saw retail service providers buy access to about 450,000 more 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps services for residential and business customers.
About 150,000 of these were for customers moving up from the entry level 12 Mbps and 25 Mbps speed tiers, according to the ACCC.
“The 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps speed tiers have been very popular with consumers recently, which is understandable as extended lockdowns in several states and territories have resulted in millions of people working and learning from home,” said ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey.
“As temporary promotions wind down and retailers adjust pricing accordingly, we strongly encourage customers to think about their internet needs and pay for a higher speed tier only if their usage demands it.”
At the same time, the quarter saw NBN retail service providers (RSPs) acquire more Connectivity Virtual Circuit (bandwidth) capacity, with total capacity acquired per user increasing from 2.74 Mbps in the June 2021 quarter to 2.82 Mbps.
“We are pleased to see that retail providers are continuing to acquire additional capacity so they can meet the demand from their customers,” Brakey said.
According to the latest data, telco Aussie Broadband continued to make strong gains and accounted for almost one third of the wholesale services added in the September quarter, lifting its market share to 5.1 per cent.
Superloop, meanwhile, also increased its share in the quarter and, after acquiring Exetel in August, now claims the sixth highest market share, with 1.5 per cent.
“Smaller niche providers have injected competition into the market for broadband services and they now go some way to constraining the big four of Telstra, TPG, Optus and Vocus,” Brakey said. “Smaller providers give consumers real choice in the service quality and range of products to meet their needs.”
Meanwhile, the wholesale market shares of Telstra, TPG Telecom and Vocus remained fairly stable in the September quarter, while Optus lost market share as a result of Exetel’s customer base shifting to Superloop.
According to the ACCC, retail and wholesale service providers expanded their presence at NBN’s 121 Points of Interconnect (POIs) -- the physical locations where providers can connect to the NBN.
During the quarter, there were 13 or more retail and wholesale providers at 119 of the POIs, up from 99 POIs in the June quarter, and 14 or more at 110 POIs, which was up from 87 POIs in June.
In early November, NBN Co revealed it would upgrade its fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network in more suburbs across the country, adding 200,000 more premises to its higher internet speed connection rollout.
The upgrades will be available from service providers when ordering Home Fast, Home Superfast and Home Ultrafast wholesale speed tiers starting from March 2022.
The new upgrade allotment was expected to bring the NBN builder’s FTTN upgrade rollout, which is part of NBN Co’s September 2020 $3.5 million investment into the NBN announced in September 2020, to 1.6 million premises.
“Over the last 12 months we have so far identified the suburbs and towns where 1.6 million premises will benefit from fibre pushed deeper into communities,” NBN Co chief operating officer Kathrine Dyer said at the time.
“We have always maintained a good balance in our approach to these upgrades, so that we deliver balanced benefits to metropolitan and regional Australia.
"Our latest list of suburbs and towns demonstrates that we are making good on our promise of the delivery of faster speeds and we are making great progress with design and construction on the programs well underway across the country."
