NBN 50 vs NBN 100 Pricing: Which Is Better Value For You Right Now?

NBN Co’s new wholesale pricing kicked in on July 1, furthering the gulf between the two sides of the NBN speed divide. The plans hit hardest are NBN 12, NBN 25 and NBN 50 – the latter of which is still, by far, the NBN speed tier most subscribed to by Australians. NBN 100, NBN 250 and NBN 1000 plans received preferential treatment, going up by a smaller amount and a significantly smaller percentage of their previous cost.

This isn’t the first time NBN 50 plans have received the short end of the stick. Despite being the most common type of residential NBN plan, previous changes to NBN Co’s wholesale pricing already made NBN 50 a hard sell for providers. Some stopped selling it altogether, while others brought the price of NBN 50 and NBN 100/20 so close together that paying a tiny bit extra for double the download speed might seem like a no-brainer… even if you didn’t need it.

The most recent round of price changes reinforced this trend, begging the question: is NBN 50 even worth it anymore?

NBN 50 vs NBN 100 pricing

NBN 50 plans are still generally cheaper than NBN 100, but not by a whole lot. Often, you’re paying around $5 per month more for NBN 100/20 than NBN 50 from the same provider. That’s about $60 extra per year for double the download speeds.

For example, looking at WhistleOut’s database, Tangerine has the cheapest NBN 100 plan when comparing total spend over the first year of service. The overall cost is $898.80, which is only $60 more than its NBN 50 plan’s $838.80.

And Tangerine’s price rises haven’t even kicked in yet. In August, its NBN 50 plan will go up by $3 per month, while its NBN 100 plan is increasing by just $1 – shortening the difference even further.

There are some outlier savings to be had, but they’re the exception to the rule. For example, Mate’s NBN 50 deal comes to $780 over the first 12 months (the cheapest option here), and Kogan Internet’s is $796.80. The NBN 100 plans from these providers come to $900 and $916.80 respectively over the same period – a total difference of $120 for each provider. This is likely to be the biggest difference you’ll see when looking for cheap NBN plans.

If you’re looking for a throw-down comparison between the cheapest NBN 50 and NBN 100 plans, we’ve listed them below, ranked by total cost over the first 12 months.

If you’d prefer to compare like for like, here are the cheapest NBN 50 plans in WhistleOut’s database:

And here are the cheapest NBN 100 plans, once again ranked by total cost over the first year:

Alex Angove-Plumb is a journalist at WhistleOut, Australia’s phone and internet comparison website.

Lead Image Credit: Disney