The number of NBN subscribers on 50Mbps plans has grown by more than six times to nearly one million in the three months to 31 March after changing the speed tier to the new standard.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) said in its ninth quarterly Wholesale Market Indicators Report that the 50Mbps plan now accounts for 26 percent of all NBN plans, up from 4.6 percent in December.
That is equivalent to 989,360 users on 50Mbps for the quarter compared to 158,959 at the end of December.
“Nearly one million customers are now using a plan with 50Mbps speeds. This is a remarkable shift in just three months,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.
“We are pleased to see retailers taking up the higher speed services and enabling their customers to shift to 50Mbps plans. This is good for consumers who can enjoy the benefits of higher speeds.”
NBN Co in December offered a temporary credit to retailers to buy 50 percent more connectivity virtual circuit (CVC) per user, and reduced the price of the access virtual circuit (AVC) for 50Mbps services.
This encouraged customers to shift to 50Mbps plans from the previous 25Mbps standard for free, with Telstra upgrading 850,000 home and small business customers in that time.
Average CVC per user is also growing, up from 1.52Mbps in December to 1.55Mbps in March.
The ACCC said all 121 points of interconnection (POIs) had at least five access seeker groups acquiring services directly from NBN Co, with at least six groups connected at 120 of the POIs, and 95 POIs with at least seven groups acquiring services.
“However, we would expect that with more consumers on higher speed plans, retailers will continue to provision enough CVC to ensure a continuing good customer experience, particularly during the busy evening periods,” Sims said.
The ACCC said it will continue to monitor broadband speeds and CVC utilisation by retailers.
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