We're up to speed, now it's price
With most Australians being locked down for significant periods in 2020, there has perhaps been an unexpected bright spot in a difficult year – the performance of the National Broadband Network.
I won’t lie; it feels a bit unusual saying those words out loud, but after years of underperformance the NBN delivered in a time of need. While millions of people were living under lockdown conditions, working from home and home-schooling, our reliance on the NBN to deliver fast and reliable broadband skyrocketed. And, thankfully, congestion-free NBN was one thing people didn’t have to worry about.
It’s taken a long time to get to this point, but congestion-free NBN represents more than just faster speeds – and faster evening speeds in particular. Thanks to some backend magic from NBN Co, more and more providers are offering congestion-free NBN. Which means no matter how many people are online at any time, you should be able to achieve the maximum speeds for your plan.
The changes made by NBN Co are available to all providers, meaning every one of the dozens of providers can access maximum speeds if it is willing to pay for it. The more providers that take up these super-fast speeds, the harder they’ll have to work to differentiate themselves from each other.
Until recently we recommended assessing typical evening speed, price and data allowances when picking an NBN plan. However, today most NBN plans come with unlimited data, and with typical evening speeds becoming less of a decision-making criterion, you’re left with price as the major factor when choosing an NBN plan.
Price competition is the most significant change congestion-free NBN should bring. If you can get the same speed from different providers but pay less by choosing one over another, why wouldn’t you pick it? NBN providers will now need to offer more affordable prices, or other features and benefits to stay competitive.
As the NBN becomes more of a utility and people get increasingly used to switching between providers for better deals, the more expensive providers will have to offer bigger incentives to win customers while smaller providers drive the base price down.
Congestion-free internet isn’t ubiquitous yet, but it’s hard to find NBN 25 or NBN 50 plans that don’t advertise maximum download speeds. The number of NBN 100 plans boasting maximum speeds is also growing. While congestion-free NBN won’t solve the inequality of the system (especially for rural and regional areas limited by technology types), it does stand to break down one of the most significant boundaries between Australians and a genuinely good internet connection.
Covid has accelerated some finance trends. While the use of cash had been declining, the pandemic left many of us with no choice but to buy online, which sped up the shift to digital payments. The boom in Buy Now Pay Laterstyle payments is likely to continue as credit card providers fight back against fintech disruptors.
We’re also seeing the finance sector embrace open banking, which should ultimately give us greater freedom over our financial data and more personalisation as providers compete for our money.
When it comes to rates, historic lows could soon be a thing of the past. Although deposit rates might remain in the doldrums, mortgage rates look to be on the up, with fixed rates increasing sooner and by more than variable rates. So, now’s the time to ensure you can afford the odd interest rate rise.
Insurance is also set for a shake-up. As with car insurance, the growth in “pay as you drive” products is likely to continue with the boom in working from home and less time spent driving to work.