NBN Co's 50Mbps promo expands to Telstra, Optus

Telstra and Optus have moved to take advantage of NBN Co’s temporarily discounted 50Mbps service price, following the lead of TPG last month.

In mid-December, NBN Co unveiled a promotional price offer designed to encourage more NBN users to take up a 50Mbps service, instead of a more basic 12Mbps or 25Mbps one.

The promotion means NBN Co will offer 50Mbps services “for the same access price as the 25Mbps service” for a year - as well as “a boost of 50 percent additional bandwidth” for those customers, based on the amount of bandwidth per user that an RSP pays to provision.

It is effectively a simulation of a more permanent 50Mbps package that NBN Co hopes to introduce that will come bundled with 2Mbps of connectivity virtual circuit (CVC) bandwidth, making it less susceptible to peak-time slowdowns.

The immediate effect of the temporary price offer was meant to be that RSPs would sell customers a 50Mbps service instead of a 25Mbps one, given the wholesale costs were the same.

TPG and its internet brands made the shift immediately, “discontinuing” new 25Mbps sign-ups.

It took a little longer, but now Telstra and Optus have also started offering 50Mbps services, using the promotional pricing.

Optus had foreshadowed the opening of a 50Mbps product on its website but remained tight-lipped on when.

Unlike TPG, Optus hasn’t stopped selling 25Mbps but is instead offering a temporary 50Mbps promotion.

Its 'Made for Entertainment' NBN bundle can be used with a 25Mbps ($80 a month), 50Mbps ($95 a month) or 100Mbps ($100 a month) NBN speed tier.

In terms and conditions, Optus notes that purchasers of the 50Mbps tier receive the “free speed upgrade option for [the first] six months” of a two-year deal.

That means customers will pay $80 a month for the first six months and $95 a month thereafter on the 50Mbps tier.

Telstra has come up with a different interpretation of the promotional pricing on its own two-year contracts.

It has now switched the base speed tier on three of its four plans to the 50Mbps wholesale product, with only its most basic contract service - and month-to-month plans - sticking with the 25Mbps tier.

However, it appeared from a Whirlpool post that customers would be able to keep the 50Mbps service for the entire contract, without the price rising once NBN Co’s promotional offer ends.

Further comment was being sought from a Telstra spokesperson at the time of publication.