In addition to "new wholesale bundle pricing options to be launched in May", the NBN Co is trumpeting the fact that more than a million people have opted for faster speeds.
The company also says that following its "commitment to provide updates on improvements to customer experience, its latest monthly progress report shows a dramatic shift in orders for plans over the NBN access network based on wholesale speeds of 50Mbps or higher, increasing from 16% in December to 37%".
We're told that "the growth has been driven by the company’s ‘Focus on 50’ wholesale promotion, which provides retailers with discounted pricing on higher speed NBN plans as well as a 50% boost of additional bandwidth".
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Indeed, NBN Co says that it "announced its plans to start selling the new wholesale pricing options from May 2018 following months of continued industry consultation".
NBN Co’s chief customer officer – Residential, Brad Whitcomb, said: “Our team continues to work closely with Internet providers to deliver better broadband speeds for Australians connected to services over the NBN access network.
“Three months ago we had less than one in 15 users connected to our ‘sweet spot’ wholesale 50Mbps plans – today we have more than one in four signed up to them for better value than what they would have previously been paying.
“Not only are more people starting to experience the benefits of connecting to high-speed plans, but our work with industry continues to deliver a world-class network performance as the average network bandwidth congestion per Australian home is consistently sitting below 30 minutes per week compared with more than six hours per week this time last year.
“Our insights indicate people who have connected to higher speed plans are now happier with their experience and are able to better enjoy the benefits of fast broadband such as streaming using multiple devices, working from home and access to online education resources.
“With our new wholesale broadband bundles now set to launch in early May, we encourage people to shop around and speak to their Internet providers about the plans available, as well as what their usage is during peak evening periods to ensure they are getting the best value service.
“The results from our latest monthly progress report show we’ve listened to the community’s feedback and are working hard alongside industry to make significant steps to improve customer experience but we know there’s more to be done,” Whitcomb concluded.
NBN Co reminds us that "the rollout of the NBN access network is more than halfway built with more than 3.7 million homes and businesses already connected. NBN Co remains on track to complete the rollout of the network and connect eight million homes and businesses by the end of 2020".
We're also reminded that "NBN Co’s monthly progress report is designed to give Australians a clearer understanding of the ways the company is taking action to improve customer experience".
"The metrics used relate to services NBN Co delivers to phone or Internet providers and the physical connection of homes and businesses to nbn infrastructure. The metrics do not cover services supplied by providers to end users. Metrics are based on averages, summaries and simplifications – end user experiences vary. For important information on the metrics and their descriptions please visit NBN Co's update section of its website".
NBN Co says its March 2018 monthly progress report includes:
- Ready to connect – There are more than 6.5 million Australian homes and businesses who are able to connect to the nbn access network – compared with 4.5 million in March 2017.
- Connected homes and businesses – There are 3.7 million homes and businesses connected to a plan over the nbn access network – compared with 2 million in March 2017.
- Installed right the first time – There are 87% of homes and businesses who had their NBN equipment installed right the first time – compared with 85% in March 2017.
- Meeting agreed installation times – There are 92% of homes and businesses who were connected within the agreed timeframes with phone and internet providers – compared with 88% in March 2017.
- Average network bandwidth congestion – The average home or business connected to the nbn access network is now experiencing around 18 minutes per week of bandwidth congestion – compared with 6 hours and 55 minutes per week in March 2017.
- Fixed line congestion – There are 0.068% of all homes and businesses connected to the nbn Fixed Line access network who have experienced network congestion – compared with 0.370% in March 2017.
- Uptake to higher wholesale plans – There are 37% of homes and businesses on a 50Mbps (download) wholesale speed plan or higher – compared with 16% in March 2017.
- Network availability – The nbn access network was up and running more than 99.93% of the time – compared to 100.00% in March 2017.
- Meeting agreed fault restoration time – There are 83% of faults resolved with phone and internet providers within the agreed time frames – compared to 65% in March 2017.
- Faults per 100 connected homes and businesses – There are an average 1.0 per 100 homes and business who experienced a fault on the nbn access network this month – compared to 0.9 in March 2017.
Here's NBN Co's video showing NBN connected end user Janine Elliot talking about her higher speed plan:
