MEDIA RELEASE - NBN CAPITULATES ON PRICING – NOW TAXPAYERS DESERVE TRANSPARENCY - 14 DECEMBER 2017

14 December 2017

With Jim Chalmers, Shadow Minister for Finance. 

In a troubling sign that confidence in Turnbull’s multi-technology mix is further deteriorating, NBNCo has reduced its wholesale prices.

Let's face it: if you have a second-rate product in which consumers have little confidence, you may as well discount it. 

Whilst the price discounts appear to be a modest step towards addressing poor experience during peak hours, this is just one of the many frustrations being experienced by consumers on Turnbull’s second-rate NBN.

And after years of the Australian public being lectured to by NBNCo about why they don't need faster internet speeds, it is somewhat ironic that these pricing discounts are designed to encourage just that.

This development also suggests the Government has given up on its 2020 NBN revenue targets.

While he is at it, Turnbull should complete his capitulation by abandoning copper and at a minimum taking fibre to the curb, where it remains feasible.

It is incredible that NBNCo continues to pretend that copper is cheaper than fibre. The sooner this charade ends, the better off the Australian public will be.

Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison now need to come clean, and explain what impact these pricing changes will have on the value of the NBN, the cost to the taxpayer, and the increased fiscal exposure to the federal budget. 

Australian taxpayers own the NBN and will not tolerate the project being run like some secret society.