The Federal Government has announced that NBN Co will provide $150 million in financial relief to internet providers so they can assist Australian families and businesses in accessing the National Broadband Network (NBN) during the pandemic.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, said NBN Co’s Covid-19 relief fund was a substantial investment in the connectivity of Australians – particularly for low-income families with school-aged children who dod not have NBN access – at a critical time for our nation.
“This package is targeted at supporting low-income households that have school-aged children, and provides financial hardship relief for residential customers and small and medium sized businesses,” Minister Cormann said.
Fifty million dollars in funding is be allocated to help connect low-income families with school-aged children so they can access the internet for educational purposes.
NBN Co will waive the $37 monthly wholesale charge, paid for by internet providers, for many services on the 25/5 Mbps speed tier plan available from April until September. This is an opt-in scheme for internet providers. Participating providers will have their corresponding retail offering assessed by an internal panel at NBN Co to ensure that low-income families will have access to the most cost effective NBN packages.
A further $50 million will be allocated to support households experiencing financial hardship due to the challenges presented by the coronavirus. Financial relief will be provided by NBN Co to internet providers so that they can maintain NBN connections for households that are unable to pay some or all of their bills.
NBN Co is also making $50 million available to support small and medium businesses. Relief measures will include waiving wholesale monthly costs paid by internet providers for businesses facing COVID-19 related financial hardship, and providing internet providers with discounted access to new business-grade services until 31 January next year.
NBN Co will offer internet providers enhanced service levels and priority connections and fault resolutions for essential and emergency services, including telehealth providers. These measures complement the GP clinic speed boost to support for enhanced telehealth services announced by Minister Fletcher last week.
For more information on NBN Co’s financial relief measures visit: www.nbnco.com.au
