Chorus has updated pricing of its wholesale fibre products over the next three months for Retail Service Providers (RSPs) as well as providing support to them on doubtful debts they accrued during lockdown.
The reduced pricing and delayed increase are expected to deliver savings of around $10m to RSPs, and the lockdown debt package is a further $2m of value, said the Operator.
Gigabit wholesale fibre pricing will reduce from $60 a month to $56 a month from 01 July 2020. As previously signalled, the annual regulated CPI increase to fibre products will be delayed until 01 October 2020, at which point the price for 100Mbps fibre will increase from $46 to $47.15. Chorus said it is consulting with RSPs on this change over the next two weeks. Small business fibre pricing will reduce by $3 a month to $52 from 01 July 2020, acknowledging the pressure SMEs are facing.
The price changes are wholesale only and the decision about passing on either reductions or increases to consumers sits with the RSPs.
In addition to the savings, Chorus has also announced that it would create a further fund of $2m to provide relief for RSPs who elected not to cut off customers who were unable to pay during the lockdown.
JB Rousselot, CEO, Chorus
We are conscious of the critical role Chorus infrastructure played during the lockdown, and we believe this mix of pricing changes will support RSPs, allow Chorus to continue to invest in the capacity, reach and resilience of the fibre network, and also enable more customers to benefit from higher specification plans.
