‘NBN tax’ gets ACCC approval, could bring price-hike for some fibre internet users

DECISION MEANS CUSTOMERS COULD COP THE COST.

The ACCC has ruled that it’s fine for the burden of funding the NBN’s Regional Broadband Scheme (RBS) to disproportionately fall on customers of superfast fibre-internet services that were rolled out privately. The ruling is likely to mean that some internet users in new housing estates and inner-city blocks of flats could face their ISP levying an ‘NBN tax’ on their internet service. This could take the form of an extra monthly fee of around $7. The tax is intended to help subsidise the costs of the government’s rollout of NBN infrastructure (including fixed wireless and satellite components) to regional parts of Australia that would otherwise not be financially viable. The fee will only affect superfast internet services that aren’t technically part of the NBN, which have often been rolled out privately in regions and situations that wouldn’t have otherwise been serviced. This move aims to prevent these non-NBN providers from having to absorb the costs themselves. The ACCC has also specified that it won’t apply to smaller providers with fewer than 12,000 customers, where it’s feared the increased burden could be crippling.