NBN Co today announced it will waive charges for additional capacity of up to 40 percent to Retail Service Providers (RSPs) for at least three months to help them support Australian residential and business nbn customers. The additional capacity pricing relief will apply to all fixed line, fixed wireless and satellite nbn technologies.

From Monday 23 March NBN Co will immediately offer retailers access to pricing relief for up to 40 per cent more Connectivity Virtual Circuit (CVC) capacity as required to help meet demand over time at no additional cost.

Today’s announcement follows weeks of detailed planning and assessment by nbn’s engineers on the network’s capabilities to effectively meet Australia’s growing broadband requirements as more people choose to spend more time at home working, studying, shopping, and streaming entertainment content.

NBN Co plans to introduce this offer from Monday 23 March and will set the CVC usage charges applied in February 2020 as the baseline, waiving any additional changes for overage that would otherwise be incurred by RSPs over the next three months, and will continue to monitor the situation in terms of any further decision making required.

NBN Co is advising residential and business customers to ensure they are on the right retail broadband plan to meet their needs. Information about the capabilities of different retail speed tiers is available on the nbn website and on retailers’ websites. Customers can check their retail account details if they are unsure about their chosen retail speed tier plan and should contact their retailer if they wish to upgrade to a higher speed service.

nbn Chief Executive Officer Stephen Rue said:

“We have been in regular talks with retailers over the past couple of weeks to understand the wholesale network support they require to meet the needs of more Australians working from home and as individuals, couples and families across the nation are spending more time at home, and naturally wanting to stay productive and connected to family and friends.

“We’re proud to play our part to keep Australians connected and productive through this crisis. Data carriage on the nbn has already increased by around 5 – 6 percent over the last few days as customers have increasingly started to work from home. The nbn is performing well, and we have not seen or experienced any significant traffic congestion on the network. 

“We are closely following events unfolding in other parts of the world and we have taken decisive action to incrementally offer pricing relief for up to 40 per cent more capacity. This is equivalent to the higher end of increased data bandwidth requirements that we have seen in countries such as Italy, which have mandated work from home arrangements.

“The additional capacity pricing relief will be offered to RSPs at no additional cost and will help support significantly greater data use on the network throughout the day and during peak evening times. The offer will be made available to the industry from Monday in time to meet the steadily growing data consumption patterns of residential and business customers.   

“NBN Co will play the critical role it was set up to fulfil, ensuring Australia’s wholesale digital infrastructure is robust, resilient and reliable. We are confident that this immediate response will make a significant difference. 

“We are also mindful that these are unprecedented times and remain vigilant to any unexpected market and usage changes. We will continue to work closely with retailers to support Australians during this time.”