Soon to be gone - 50mbps NBN plans? | Dirt Report

Possible sale of Optus

The report said Singtel, Optus’ parent company, was reportedly in discussions to sell the Australian telecommunications business to Canadian private equity firm Brookfield. The potential sale was described as part of Singtel’s broader plan to divest non-core assets and focus on its main markets and businesses.

The reported value of the transaction was around $8 billion Australian dollars. However, the sale was not presented as confirmed. Optus had recently experienced several public problems, including the departure of its chief executive, and a change in ownership could affect how the company operates and competes in Australia.

Some 50Mbps NBN plans could disappear

Optus and TPG announced that they would no longer provide NBN services on some 50Mbps plans where customers could potentially achieve higher speeds. The change is intended to encourage eligible customers to move to faster plans, although the report noted that customers would be notified and given the option to upgrade or remain on their current plan until it is no longer offered.

The report linked this shift to changes involving NBN Co’s Special Access Undertaking, or SAU. The stated industry rationale is that moving more customers to higher-speed plans could improve network performance and reduce congestion, particularly during busy periods. Higher-speed plans can also provide greater revenue and margins for retail service providers.

The change does not mean that 50Mbps services have disappeared from the NBN itself. Rather, the report indicated that some retail service providers may choose not to offer those plans to particular customers. It also raised the concern that customers who are satisfied with a slower, cheaper service could have less choice if providers progressively withdraw those options.

Customer numbers shift between providers

According to the NBN wholesale market indicators report referenced in the video, Telstra, Optus and TPG lost almost 880,000 services during the December 2023 quarter. In contrast, smaller providers including Aussie Broadband, Vocus and Superloop gained approximately 62,000 NBN wholesale services.

Aussie Broadband led the growth among those providers, adding about 30,000 services, while Vocus and Superloop each added approximately 15,000. The report also noted that some customers had moved to Starlink. At the time, Aussie Broadband was described as continuing to be particularly popular, while the larger providers were still offering lower-speed plans for slightly less.

Aussie Broadband and Superloop

In February, Aussie Broadband purchased a 19.9 per cent stake in Superloop at $0.95 per share and made a conditional, non-binding proposal to acquire the remaining shares at the same price. Superloop rejected the proposal, saying it undervalued the company and did not adequately reflect its growth prospects and strategic value.

On 14 March, Superloop announced a six-year contract with Origin Energy to provide high-speed broadband services across Origin’s offices, retail locations and operational sites. The agreement is expected to migrate approximately 130,000 Origin broadband customers from their existing network provider to Superloop, taking Superloop’s total customer base to approximately 560,000 once migration is complete.

The contract was reported as potentially adding more than $19 million in annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for Superloop after migration. The report also noted that Aussie Broadband’s share price fell by around 20 per cent following the announcement, and questioned whether its takeover proposal was connected to Origin’s decision to change providers.

Could 2Gbps NBN services arrive?

The report also discussed a rumour from the most recent CommsDay event that services beyond 1Gbps could eventually become available for some NBN users. A 2Gbps service was suggested as a possibility for a limited group of customers with fibre-to-the-home connections who are prepared to pay for it.

The report treated this as a rumour rather than a confirmed product launch. It also cautioned that faster download speeds may not necessarily be matched by equally fast upload speeds.