Price hikes lift NBN Co’s earnings 7pc as Aussies rush into higher speed

NBN price hikes have pushed more Australians into plans with higher internet speeds, lifting the government-owned telco’s half year earnings more than 7 per cent.

NBN Co chief executive Ellie Sweeney said access to higher internet speeds benefited the national economy.

NBN price hikes have pushed more Australians into plans with higher internet speeds, lifting the government-owned telco’s half year earnings more than 7 per cent.

NBN Co says its average revenue per user in the residential market increased by $2 to $49 after several years of flat growth.

It comes as Anthony Albanese last month said he would inject an extra $3bn into the telco to upgrade homes on the “outdated” copper network and ensure all Australians have access to “fast, reliable and affordable broadband”.

The government has overseen price hikes at NBN, which have made internet plans with slower download speeds more expensive, while faster plans were subject to smaller price increases. This nudged more Australians into higher speed plans as they looked for better value. NBN Co pegs its price rises to annual inflation, which gave it another boost.

The Coalition has criticised the hikes, saying as of last August six million families have been “smashed” by NBN price rises of up to 14 per cent since October 2023.

Chief executive Ellie Sweeney said about 8.6 million premises had connected to the NBN network by the end of December, with 28 per cent connected to plans offering wholesale download speeds of 100Mbps and above.

NBN Co also launched several promotions during the year, including offering 100Mbps for same the price as 50Mbps. This had the effect of moving lots of people onto 100Mbps, but when the promotion ended they reverted to 50 or 25Mbps plans.

Ms Sweeney said access to higher internet speeds benefited the national economy.

Anthony Albanese has injected an extra $3bn into the NBN. Picture: Martin Ollman

“Australians are fast adopters of technology and, as Australia’s digital backbone, the nbn network is critical digital infrastructure supporting the needs of more than 20 million Australians every day and carrying more than 80 per cent of Australia’s data traffic,” she said.

“Recent Accenture research has demonstrated the strong relationship between higher-speed broadband and key economic indicators, including gross domestic product. And after many years of hard work and continued investment, we are well-progressed with our network upgrades that will help reshape Australia’s digital future and deliver significant economic and productivity benefits across the nation.”

Overall revenue in the six months to December 31 rose 4 per cent to $2.87. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation jumped 7 per cent to $2.12bn.

Ms Sweeney said NBN Co’s key performance metrics are on track to meet FY25 guidance — as outlined in its 2025 Statement of Corporate Intent — to generate revenue in the range of $5.7bn and 5.9bn and EBITDA of between $4.1bn and $4.3bn.

“The fibre upgrades, combined with the continued rollout of FTTP (fibre to the premises) to new greenfield developments and enhancements to the hybrid fibre coaxial network, will enable a total of around 10 million premises, or 90 per cent of homes and businesses in the fixed line footprint, to access near gigabit wholesale speed tiers by December 2025, and 94 per cent by the end of 2030.

“Our focus on efficiency, innovation, and enhancing the customer experience will ensure that the NBN network continues to evolve to meet the growing needs of Australians while enabling them to take full advantage of the myriad opportunities of the Digital Age.”

When unleashing more funding for NBN Co, Mr Albanese said it was “essential national infrastructure” and would allow more than 11 million homes and businesses access to speeds of 1 gigabyte-per-second, once the work was complete.

“Families and businesses deserve high-speed internet at an affordable price,” he said.

“Labor created the National Broadband Network and only Labor will finish the NBN and importantly, keep the NBN in public hands.”

The Opposition has supported the investment. “We won’t be standing in the way of this. We’ll take advice from the Department of Finance, if we’re successful in the election, on the best way of implementing this new investment,” Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman said last month.

Originally published as Price hikes lift NBN Co’s earnings 7pc as Aussies rush into higher speed