Broadband bigwig Telstra has announced that it's starting to roll out a new 5G home broadband service to compete with NBN, but it's also making some changes to its core NBN plans as well.
Previously, the telco has offered a fairly simple array of NBN plan speeds – Standard (NBN25), Standard Plus (NBN50), and Premium (NBN100), staying away from newer, faster tiers that have recently been unlocked by NBN Co. That's just changed however, with Australia’s biggest telco now offering two new plans that boost speeds significantly beyond what was previously available.
Unlike other telcos, Telstra isn't offering these as standalone products – rather, they're add-ons to its Premium (NBN100) product. Subscribe to the latter and, if you've got the right connection type, you'll now be able to optionally add Superfast or Ultrafast speeds (aka NBN250 and NBN1000 respectively) for a flat monthly fee.
The Superfast add-on is already available both online and in-store and promises typical evening speeds (7-11pm) of 215Mbps for AU$30 extra per month. Ultrafast connections, meanwhile, offer a typical evening speed of 250Mbps for an extra AU$70 monthly fee – but this option is currently only available in-store.
It’s worth noting that Telstra says its 'typical evening speed' claim for Ultrafast still requires more user data to get an accurate average speed reading, so the 250Mbps rate is likely on the conservative side.
Telstra Superfast (NBN250) plan | AU$130 per month (first 12 months, then AU$140 per month)
With typical evening speeds of 215Mbps, the Superfast plan from Telstra offers blazing fast speeds for those with the connection that can handle it (see below). You'll get unlimited data, AU$10 monthly credit for the first year, 3 months free subscription to Binge Standard movie and TV streaming, a waived AU$99 connection fee, and there's also a Telstra Smart Modem included for new customers that stay connected for 24 months. Score! Total minimum cost over 24 months is AU$3,240
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NBN250 and NBN100: Are you eligible?
As mentioned earlier, not everyone will be able to sign up for these new plans: they're provided as add-ons to the Premium (NBN100) plan. That means if you're an existing Telstra customer on a NBN25 or NBN50 plan, you can’t purchase these add-ons unless you first upgrade to the NBN100 option.
More broadly, whether you can access NBN250 or NBN1000 requires you to have a specific NBN connection type that can handle those higher speeds – meaning you’ll need at least a HFC connection. Telstra states that “Most HFC and FTTP connections are capable of Superfast speeds, while only FTTP and some HFC customers can achieve Ultrafast speeds”.
The good news is that Telstra won’t let you sign up to these plans if your connection won't be able to handle them, so you won’t end up paying extra for high speeds that you can’t possibly reach.
NBN100 back on the menu
Alongside the new add-ons, Telstra has also revealed that it has resumed selling NBN100 plans "for FTTC customers and selected existing Telstra NBN customers on FTTN and FTTB".
These plan sales were paused earlier in the year, but Telstra assures us that it's upgraded its systems and "done a lot of work behind the scenes" to make sure its customers are getting the speeds promised them.
Further to this, Telstra states that, "if a customer on FTTN, FTTB, or FTTC can’t reach the maximum speeds of the Premium Internet plan or Premium Add-on, we’ll let them know and provide them with options in accordance with our regulatory commitments".
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