Telstra Releases NBN Pricing Plans

The move comes after the nation's largest telco signed a wholesale service agreement with NBN Co, the government-funded company charged with building and running the national broadband network, at the weekend.

The plans, announced on Monday, have the same pricing and download allowance for specific download speeds as Telstra's ADSL or cable internet plans.

Telstra executive director of customer service Peter Jamieson said the decision to offer a uniform suite of broadband products was designed to make things simpler for customers.

"Whilst having options is good, too many options becomes confusing," Mr Jamieson said.

Entry level NBN plans starts at $49.95 a month for 50 gigabytes (GB) of data delivered with a download speed of 25 megabits per second (Mbps), rising to $89.95 for 500 GB.

For those who wish to have a download speed of 100Mbps, plans start from $59.95 a month for 50 GB of data, to $99.95 for 500 GB.

The release of Telstra's NBN plans also coincided with an update of the telco's broadband retail offering more generally, with new bundled plans featuring more generous download allowances and inclusions.

Telstra chief customer officer Gordon Ballantyne said a dedicated call centre had been set up to manage customer inquiries, while 5,000 technicians were on standby to help customers connect to the new service.

The NBN plans will be available to those living in the five Australian mainland first release NBN sites - Armidale and Kiama Downs (NSW), Townsville (Queensland), Brunswick (Victoria) and Willunga (South Australia).

Other internet service providers currently offering NBN retail internet plans included Optus and iinet.

While it was possible to deliver voice services over parts of the NBN, Mr Jamieson said customers would continue to receive their home phone service over Telstra's copper network.

"As the technology changes occur over the next 12 to 18 months, we will make that transition to a fibre service for their voice," Mr Jamieson said.

NBN Co planned to roll out fibre-optic cable to deliver high-speed broadband services to 93 per cent of Australia's 13 million homes, schools and businesses by 2021.

Telstra closed down three cents at $3.23.