With increased numbers of Australians self-isolating (or being forced to isolate) at home, our National Broadband Network has been seeing a surge in demand – whether it’s people forced to be at home, or those choosing to work from home instead of in an office or elsewhere, the demand is there, and NBN Co is answering.
To prevent providers feeling the pinch on CVC demand – in laymans terms, the amount of bandwidth available for each providers’ customers for each service area – NBN Co will waive charges for up to 40% extra bandwidth.
From Monday, retail service providers – such as Aussie Broadband, Superloop, Telstra, Optus and the rest – will be able to access extra CVC bandwidth on an “as required” basis.
For users, the impact is simple – instead of the surge in demand seeing slower network performance, that extra 40% bandwidth boost should mean your connection just keeps humming along at the same typical speed it did last month, and the month before.
For providers, it means that whatever they paid for CVC charges in February will be the benchmark; this means that providers can use up to 140% of their February CVC rate for each service area without incurring extra charge, and that will remain the case for the next three months.
NBN Co CEO Stephen Rue said the amount of CVC boost
“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.”
Rue said NBN Co had 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”.
Understandably, NBN retail service providers are bound to be pretty happy with this news, and so can their customers.
It might be a small gesture, but with increasing numbers of Australians already working from home, and that number likely to increase in coming days and weeks, knowing that providers have a bit of certainty of pricing – despite surge demand – is comforting for us all, even if only a little.
Looking for the fastest NBN plan available to take advantage of your work from home arrangements? Try the fastest plans around this month:
