Government Wants You to Pay Another $8.26 Monthly for 4G/5G Fixed Wireless Services

I have checked two other threads but they are related to the introduction of a NBN tax on fixed line products. e.g. 12. So, it is a good time to start another thread and maybe make some noise, albeit it I have doubts that it will result in any meaningful change as the trajectory seems to be already set in stone by the bean counters.

I thought the ACCC was there to protect the consumer but it seems like they are just a bunch of government stooges. Let's face it, we probably won't get a say on this.

The cost of living is set to increase yet again! Your bills might be going up if you are using a 4G/5G fixed wireless alternative. For those of us that only have access to poor NBN products such as HFC/FTTN NBN which is subject to corrosion and multiple site visits, this is just another blow. I am actually thinking of going back on HFC to force the NBN Co to waste more money on site visits. I averaged anywhere from 6-9 site visits a year whilst on HFC and it was never fixed with the 4G failover kicking in multiple times per day.

Do we need to band together and break the system before the government decides to act more prudently? A majority of the NBN areas are not fit for purpose for video conferencing which requires stability. How many of you guys have actually taken action to get your connections fixed? You have that right, have you exercised it or have you given up like I have. Normally, you would think the NBN Co would be promoting 4G/5G because it saves money by reducing the incidence of site visits, but maybe we need to teach them a lesson once they drive us back onto their platform.

Article: IT News

the ACCC has indicated it would now support cellular fixed wireless services being taxed.

“Under the current RBS funding arrangements, as more consumers substitute 4G and 5G fixed wireless services for fixed line broadband services, the RBS funding base will continue to be eroded over time,” the ACCC said.

“This will necessitate ongoing increases to the RBS levy amount, which is likely to further disadvantage fixed-line network operators in those geographic areas where they compete with 4G and 5G fixed wireless providers.”

The ACCC noted “some risk” in a levy on 4G and 5G fixed wireless services making them more expensive, and less of a “competitive constraint” on NBN Co’s own pricing.

The commission indicated that expansion should be accompanied by some redefinition of who pays.

“If the government decides that it is appropriate to broaden the RBS charge base to include 4G and 5G fixed wireless broadband services, consideration would need to be given to the best approach for revising the RBS charge base unit,” the ACCC said.

Do you support such a move?

Poll Options

  • 11
    I do not mind taxes.
  • 43
    I dislike this new proposed tax.
  • 11
    I only use a small amount of mobile data, or it will not apply to me.

Comments

  • +2

    Let’s get the band back together

  • -6

    I forgot to mention:

    If the prices are set to be almost the same for NBN and 5G then of course there is an incentive to go back to the NBN and force them to fix the connection. It does fix itself, but after a few weeks to months the corrosion is back.

    It just depends on whether you have the time to schedule in tech visits whilst working from home. It is manageable for me, and seriously if they gave me FTTP, I wouldn't be so pissed off. They stopped the construction literally 50 metres away from my house, but the cost to roll FTTP was $17,600 last time I checked. I live in an enclave, and it almost feels like I am living in a real life hood with multiple shootings per year and shitty broadband.

    It just makes sense for me to get it working again which ultimately means more costs to NBNCo. Sorry, but that's the truth.

    • I live in an enclave, and it almost feels like I am living in a real life hood with multiple shootings per year

      Does this affect the upload speed more than download? Bullets cause buffering?

      • -3

        No, I meant to say the government policies all just seem to cause more and more chaos in the hood. Then the government runs around and wonders what the heck just happened. Violence is up and they know the reasons, but they never intervene to push good social policies. Instead they intervene by making the cost of living higher…

        Neither political party will address the issue. I do see some people taking advantage of that though in their comments, it's their freedom of speech but honestly I don't see a political solution to this.

        The real solution is to get people to just hammer the NBNCo with fault reports and force their hand using the economic structures and financial incentives we have at our disposal.

        If they want to raise the fees to make NBN competitive, well they better provide a superior product.

        For too long people have put up with an inferior product based on where they live. Political pork barrelling…

        • +1

          The real solution is to get people to just hammer the NBNCo with fault reports

          They couldn't care less about this.
          You think anybody in the government cared/cares that the NBN cost far more than it should have, and delivered a sub-par product? I dont think most people realize just how much money was wasted across all RSPs and NBN Co by employing this "mixed technology family" bs.

          At the end of the day, it's taxpayer/general public money, both parties are guilty of abusing it, and politicians only care about getting reelected. Your crusade, while good-hearted, is stupid.

  • +1

    Strategic Political dross from the same LNP propaganda machine peddling crap about FTA sport. aka Duttons fluffers dressing up every non concern as outrage. Good news OP, there's a global recession coming. Blame the local govt. They control the universe.
    The NBN is Churnbulls mess

  • +1

    So, it is a good time to start another thread…..meaningful change

    Try whingepool..at the very least you might earn some interweb karma.

  • +4

    The fee in question covers the subsidy for places with costlier nbn services, including wireless and satellite.
    If you have fixed nbn you pay it.
    Charging the fee to mobile telcos offering fixed wireless NBN alternatives levels the playing field, so all tax payers don’t have to pick up the gap.

    I agree fibre nbn should be expanded, and it is, but they can’t invest in it if it is forced to subsidise rural connections and private cell businesses don’t have to.

    There is plenty to be unhappy about with the state on the nbn, this isn’t really part of it.

  • +1

    So sure of your position that you had to post using a burner account, eh?

    Vive la révolution!

  • +1

    Creates an account to post this stuff. What is this site becoming?

  • +2

    Translation, I stand so much behind this I create an alt account to argue for it.

    It supports regional access to broadband services. That is always going to cost money but I understand why regional broadband needs to exist, farmers having internet is incredibly important to increase the productivity of their farming.

    • Translation, I stand so much behind this I create an alt account to argue for it.

      Pretty pathetic, isn't it?

  • My FW already went up this month, another 4 bux or so.

    member when we had this telco giant called telstra that held a monopoly on services and was able to jack their prices whenever they wanted. What we needed was another entity to break that power and bring prices down to where they were fair and reasonable….oh never mind.

  • The OP seems to think this is about 5G. About mobile wireless services.

    It isn't. It is about FIXED wireless data services. Where you have an antenna on your roof.

    When this was first reported as NBNCo wanting it, I thought they were talking about ALL wireless data services. But they aren't. At least not at the moment.

    • "It is about FIXED wireless data services. Where you have an antenna on your roof"
      So this won't apply to the tpg/iinet 5g home broadband service, and many others similar, because it does not have an antenna on the roof?

      I know people who have disconnected from the NBN (FTTN) and refuse to get the free FTTP upgrade, instead use their mobile phone with the hotspot on for ALL their home data use all the time when at home and also when out. So how will this extra tax on "fixed wireless" stop that?

      • +1

        The current proposal does not target use of the 4G/5G mobile phone network, whether it is by a specific home broadband service that uses the mobile phone network, or by people using the data component of a mobile phone service for their home network.

        It only seeks to add an $8.26/month surcharge for FIXED wireless services.

    • +2

      Fixed wireless refers to 5G home broadband plans that are competing with NBN, like https://www.telstra.com.au/internet/5g-home-internet . They're fixed because you can't use them to roam geographically like you can with your mobile phone, the 5G modem stays in your loungeroom. They don't need an antenna.

  • realised i've gone off topic on a rural nbn fixed wireless tangent however leaving this here still might be useful

    Fixed Wireless is getting upgrade to use 5G mmWave tech it is not compatible with traditional 5G services

    i'd support a monthly fee increase if reinvested in FW which is being upgraded from 75/10 up to 400/40

    i'd rather an increase than being stuck on heavily congested old tech network

    despite announcement back in 2021/22 with upgrade purposed for July 2024, haven't heard much movement

    suspect it's been pushed to December 2024 where i see many FW upgrades scheduled here

    not many RSP's list the new plans but found ausinternet & url networks

  • -1

    There should be a nation-wide protest regarding $80/month as an acceptable typical NBN cost.

    • Its a bit late to be arguing about the high cost of the NBN now. Its built. This is what is required to pay for the cost of what was built.

      Some of us argued when it was being designed that since most of its users would be home users, and that by the time it was built 5G would have arrived with similar speed, more consideration should be taken to cost. But we were shouted down by the enthusiasts who wanted the highest speed available whatever the cost. For example the FTTP NTUs are a custom designed unit engineered to support four independent services. No-one uses that feature. No-one has more than one service. Businesses that required more should have had the option of paying more for an NTU that can do that. But the people Labor put in charge of the original design and rollout were guys from companies that supplied IT to corporations, and big companies are willing to pay stupid high prices for their IT. When it quickly became obvious that it was going to ridiculously expensive it was re-engineered to be a mish-mash of different technologies, instead of simplifying it.

      The cost we are stuck with now is the result of the wrong people coming up with the wrong design, and we are stuck with it.

      • Yeah, it's bad no matter how we slice it.

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