Research is out from one of Australia’s most popular low-cost mobile providers, and it suggests quite a few people are a touch confused by NBN plans being offered.
Whether you’re a fan of the government’s push to go fibre to the node (FTTN) or prefer the older but more upgradeable fibre to the premises (FTTP) model, there’s a good chance that not only the technology roll out and its mixed design has you confused, but also the plans associated with it.
It’s a confusion that can hit anyone, and it’s a dilemma that isn’t unlike the choices that affect mobile selection and then mobile plan selection, which has prompted one mobile provider to not only change the way it provides choice, but investigate the complexity of plan selection for Australia’s National Broadband Network.
As such, this week Amaysim released findings from a survey of Australians to determine whether anyone really understood the plans on offer for the NBN, and while the survey only went through a 1007 people, the results from a broad demographic suggest the answer is a sad “no”.
According to the survey, 83.3 percent of Aussies can’t name the different speeds on offer on the NBN, while 71 percent couldn’t tell you what the speeds mean.
Frustratingly, a little over half of those surveyed don’t fully understand the difference between ADSL2+ and NBN broadband (58%), and 55.4 percent are confused by their options.
And just to cement the lack of clarity, Amaysim’s research suggests that 55 percent of people without NBN — which is likely a larger demographic than most realise — also don’t know what steps to take to get it.
While the survey number isn’t large, the extrapolated data isn’t terribly surprising, and echoes much of what we’ve heard from customers with and without the NBN.
However it’s also something mobile provider Amaysim seems keen to change, and with news that the telco is the fourth largest mobile service provider in Australia, the company has joined the NBN dealers and launched its own plans aimed at being simple.
As such, if you’re in an area with the NBN, the company has readied three plans aimed at being as easy to work out as possible, and they all have unlimited data on offer.
If the ADSL2-like speed of 12Mbps is fast enough (12Mbps down, 1Mbps up), you’ll find it for $60 per month. If you prefer a more standard NBN speed and the minimum requirement for 4K video of 25Mbps (25Mbps down, 5Mbps up), you’ll find that for $70 per month. And if you need more speed, Amaysim will have a 100Mbps plan for bigger households offering 100Mbps down and 40Mbps up for $90 per month, with no data caps, no peak or off-peak times, and just the simple price difference related to speed.
“At Amaysim, we’re committed to giving people what they want,” said Rob Appel, Commercial Director of Broadband for Amaysim, adding “that’s why we’re offering amazingly simple plans that cut through the complexity and provide everyone with transparent pricing.”
“Unlimited data on all plans means there’s just one decision for consumers to make – which speed is right for me?” said Appel.
The lack of a specific contract is also a positive, and something that Australians may not be used to seeing, allowing people to jump from Amaysim if they’re not happy, a difference of the typical 12 or 24 month contracts customers will likely be used to.
As curious as Amaysim’s plans are, the catch is that you’ll need to wait until the National Broadband Network is available in your area, and while that’s certainly easy enough to do, it’s the waiting game that is the most frustrating, with many Australian households expected to wait from anywhere between months and years to get connected to those fast speeds they crave.
