6 Million Families To Pay Albanese’s Double Whammy NBN Price Hikes
Costs Up as Much as 14% in 8 Months – and Low Price Plans Hit the Hardest
Millions of Australians are facing a double whammy of higher internet costs with NBN prices going up again in July.
It’s the second price-hike in just eight months since the Albanese Government backed a new pricing deal for the NBN last October.
About 6 million Australian families are on the NBN’s lower cost 25 and 50Mbps plans, according to the ACCC’s March 2024 NBN Wholesale Market Indicators Report.
From November 2023 to July 2024, families on these plans will see an average increase of about 11% on Telstra plans, and up to 14% on Aussie Broadband. Optus customers on these plans will see an increase of up to 11% between August 2023 and this month.
The twin price rises were supported by the Government.
“Incredibly, the Albanese Government has backed massive NBN price increases that are deliberately designed to hit families on low cost plans the hardest,” Shadow Communications Minister David Coleman said.
“In October last year, Minister Michelle Rowland described the ACCC’s decision to allow the NBN price rises as ‘great news for consumers’. This was after the Minister had said in August last year that the proposal ‘means affordable prices for consumers’.
“The vast bulk of families, who are on the more affordable plans, will have to pay these huge increases.
“The Government is completely out of touch with the cost-of-living pain that families are going through, and is now making things worse through its support of these price rises.”