Telstra sets conservative speed expectations for 'up to gigabit' NBN add-on

Telstra is set to offer NBN Co’s "ultrafast" broadband product with up to gigabit speeds, but has set a conservative expectation of 250Mbps speeds for the evening peak.

The telco said today it would offer NBN Co’s ‘superfast’ and ‘ultrafast’ speeds as add-ons to its 100Mbps product.

It also reinstated the availability of 100Mbps services to fibre-to-the-node (FTTN), fibre-to-the-basement (FTTB) and fibre-to-the-curb customers (FTTC), after stopping sales earlier this year.

“If you’re on our NBN 100 premium internet plan and on a compatible NBN technology type, you’ll now be able to add on superfast or ultrafast speeds to your monthly bill,” Telstra product and technology connected home and business executive Michele Garra said in a blog post.

“The superfast add-on has a typical evening download speed (between 7pm – 11pm) of 215Mbps, for $30 per month in addition to the cost of your premium internet plan.

“Ultrafast takes it to an entirely new level, as we’re launching with a typical evening download speed (between 7pm – 11pm) of 250Mbps, for $70 per month in addition to the cost of your premium internet plan”.

Telstra said it would continue to quote a conservative performance number for the up to gigabit plan “until we have enough data to provide a reliable, higher, speed claim”.

Telstra’s pricing means that a ‘superfast’ NBN250 service will go for $140 a month while up to gigabit ‘ultrafast’ services will cost $180 a month.

This places it higher than rivals such as Aussie Broadband, which already has a head-start selling higher-end services in the market.

Garra said that the new speed add-ons represent “a huge leap over the fastest plans we’ve offered before.”

But she noted that “we’ll only offer you these upgrades if your connection can take advantage of them”, a reference to the limited set of particularly hybrid-fibre coaxial (HFC) users that have lines capable of up to gigabit speeds.

On the resurrection of 100Mbps sales to new FTTN/B/C sign-ups, Garra said that since Telstra “paused selling these plans earlier in the year, we’ve done a lot of work behind the scenes to ensure customers have a better experience with us when purchasing this plan.”

Also today, Telstra launched a 5G home internet product for $85 a month with a 500GB data quota “typical download speeds between 50Mbps and 300Mbps”.

“This will be a targeted, invitation-only launch at first to eligible customers to ensure we have the right service available for those who need it, but over the next 12 months, we’ll be scaling up so more people can get in on the action,” Garra said.