Winners in the data wars

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE IN TERMS OF MOBILE PLANS AND BROADBAND OFFERINGS?

The telco industry never stands still, and there will be plenty to keep us on our toes in 2018. The influence that internet-enabled services have on our lives will continue to grow, making that phone in our pocket more precious than ever, while we can expect the NBN to become the home internet service most of us use next year.

In 2017 we saw phone carriers really begin competing on data, offering more for lower prices, and we can expect these data wars to continue in 2018. On average, phone data usage increases by about 50% every year, and for many people you could argue internet use is the main reason we use phones these days, ahead of calls and texts.

Email, instant messaging, gaming, watching TV, accessing maps and navigation, streaming music or movies, surfing the web, online shopping … the list goes on, and all these applications and services need data to work. So the data battleground is where we can expect phone providers to continue trying to fight and win customers from each other.

This coming year will be all about the NBN. In August 2017 over 50% of homes became NBN-ready, meaning they could connect to an NBN broadband service, and 75% of premises are expected to be NBN-ready by the end of 2018. And while whether to connect to the NBN or not is a choice for most people right now, that won’t last. Once the NBN becomes available people have 18 months to connect, after which other internet services will be cut off.

So, many people will have to make a choice about the NBN connection they want, and we’ll see widespread adoption of NBN services. The good news is that there are lots of providers offering NBN services, from the major telcos everyone’s familiar with to smaller companies offering highly competitive plans.

The question is, which will be the right plan for my household?

The answer will be different for everyone, based on individual needs and circumstances. However, our general advice is to try a no-contract NBN25 plan (25Mbps) and see how that works for you and your family. You should see an improvement compared to ADSL connections but if you find your household needs higher speeds it’ll be easy to change and find the plan that’s right for you.