Money Australia — May 2017

T

he rollout of the

government’s

national broadband

network (NBN)

is finally gaining

momentum. After years as a talking

point in newspapers and parliament,

theNBNisnowinmillionsofhomes,

and families are moving en masse to

the new network.

This is exciting: you should take

uptheNBNassoonasyoucan.But

asyoumakethemove,itisworth

weighing up your options. There

areafewthingstoknowupfront.

First, switching to the NBN is

compulsory. After your house is

connected there is an 18-month

window before the old systems

are disconnected. A recent survey

suggested that as many as one-

third of Australians didn’t know

that the NBN is designed to replace

the existing phone services and

ADSL internet, so be sure to spread

the word.

Second, NBN plans are sold by

speedtiers.NBN12isthebasic

option and is similar in speed to

ADSLinternettoday.Itisfollowed

by NBN 25, NBN 50 and NBN 100,

where the numbers indicate the

maximumdownloadspeedforthe

plan. Each step up is generally $

more expensive than the previous

increment, so that an NBN 100

planistypically$30amonthmore

expensivethananNBN12plan.

The problem is that not all homes

canachievethefullspeedofthe

network. Houses connected using

fibre-to-the-node technology are

affected by the distance of the

house from the node: a green

cabinet located on a footpath

somewhere in your neighbourhood.

The further your house is away

fromthenode,themorethespeed

isaffected,evenifyoupayforthe

most expensive plan.

To find the right plan, it would

bewisetostartonthelowerend

oftheNBNpricingspectrumand

work your way up. Sign up to an

NBN 12 plan and see what you think.

Ifyouhavealargerfamilywith

lots of phones and computers on

the network, perhaps try NBN 25.

You can always increase the speed

in your plan later, so you may as

well keep the bills down while you

experiment.And,mostimportantly,

you don’t want to pay extra for a

service that, for reasons beyond

your control, you just can’t use.

IN BRIEF

XMORE

MONEY

STORIES

ON44-

MY MONEY

Step into the NBN

future with care

Joe Hanlon, editor, WhistleOut

TOP3UNSECURED

PERSONALLOANS

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Excludes peer-to-peer
loans.

Thefutureoftheautomotiveindustryisexciting

indeed. Roy Morgan reports that by 2025 the

industry will see increased car sharing,

driverless cars and purely online sales.

Millennials are the most keen to go

green, with 32% of those surveyed

willing to consider an electric vehicle

and 50% a hybrid.

However, Australians don’t seem too

keen on driverless vehicles. Tesla has

shaken up the market in the US with the

release of electric driverless cars, spurring

ahugedebatearoundtheworldaboutsafetyand

technological disruption. But Roy Morgan says

54%ofpeopleherefeeltheyarenotyet

readytomakethechange.

If you’re thinking of going green,

the federal government has a website,

greenvehicleguide.gov.au, to help you

comparecars.Itallowsyoutocustomise

your search according to your estimated

distancetravelledeachyear,howmuchper

litre you want to pay for petrol, and how much

renewable energy you’d prefer to use.

More drivers think ‘green’

COMMUNICATIONS

WHAT YOU GET FOR THE PRICE

PROVIDER PLAN SPEED DATA PRICE SET-UP FEES¹

Teleron

Heavy 500GB

Standard NBN 12 500GB $49.50pm $

Exetel NBN Basic NBN 12 500GB $49.99pm $99.

SpinTel NBN Entry Unl. NBN 12 Unlimited $54.95pm $133-$213²

Mate

Communicate

NBN

#goodmates NBN 12 Unlimited $59pm None

Optus Optus $60 plan NBN 12 Unlimited $60pm $200²

Source: WhistleOut. ¹ 1 month contract. ² Includes modem.

... of Australians are willing

topaymoretoswitchtoa

carthatproduceszero

emissions.

62%