From 1 July 2026, nbn changed the wholesale prices it charges phone and internet providers. That naturally raises a customer question: what will happen to my bill?
The honest answer is that an nbn wholesale change does not translate automatically into an identical retail change. Your provider sets the price you pay and bundles the underlying access with its own network capacity, support, systems, equipment, payment costs and other inclusions.1
Still, the wholesale announcement is useful. It shows where underlying costs changed and gives households and businesses a prompt to check whether their current plan still fits.
What nbn announced
nbn said its wholesale prices would be adjusted, on average, by just under the 3.63 per cent increase in the Consumer Price Index measured over the 12 months to 31 December 2025. It said business-plan changes would be aligned to CPI.1
For the popular residential fixed-line speed plans listed in its announcement, the average monthly wholesale changes from 1 July 2026 were:
| Wholesale speed plan | FY26 average wholesale cost | FY27 average wholesale cost | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12/1 Mbps Basic Offer | $12.01 | $12.00 | -$0.01 |
| 25/5 and 25/10 Mbps | $35.07 | $36.15 | +$1.08 |
| 50/20 Mbps | $55.26 | $57.60 | +$2.34 |
| Fixed Wireless up to 100/up to 20 Mbps | $55.26 | $57.60 | +$2.34 |
| 500/50 Mbps | $58.53 | $60.85 | +$2.32 |
| 1000/100 Mbps | $73.93 | $75.88 | +$1.95 |
These are average wholesale costs, not advertised retail prices. They also apply only to the access technologies shown for each tier in nbn’s table; technology and service availability vary by premises.1
nbn described the change across its most popular residential fixed-line speed plans as between $0 and $2.34 per month, while the 12/1 Mbps line in the table reduced by one cent.1
Wholesale is not your retail bill
Think of wholesale access as one ingredient in a complete internet service.
A retail service provider purchases access from nbn, then supplies the customer-facing service. Depending on the provider and plan, the retail offer may also account for:
- capacity within the provider’s own network;
- internet transit and peering;
- customer support and fault handling;
- routers or managed equipment;
- billing and account systems;
- security or voice features;
- promotions, discounts and bundled services; and
- commercial decisions about margins and plan structure.
That means a $2.34 wholesale increase does not prove that every 50/20 retail plan must rise by $2.34. A provider may pass through more, less, the same amount or nothing at that time. It may restructure plans, change discounts or include different features. Conversely, a retail change may reflect costs beyond nbn wholesale access.
The reliable source for your own price is your provider’s written notice and current plan terms—not a wholesale table viewed in isolation.
What should households do?
Do not change plans solely because a wholesale announcement exists. Start with the service you actually use.
Check your latest bill and notices
Confirm the regular monthly price after any promotion. Look for a dated notice from your provider explaining a price or plan change, when it takes effect and what choices are available.
Compare the plan with your real usage
Ask whether your household experiences problems at the times that matter. Slow Wi-Fi in one bedroom may be a home-network issue rather than a reason to buy a faster access tier. On the other hand, simultaneous video calls, gaming, streaming and cloud backups can expose a genuine capacity limit.
Review the whole offer
Compare more than speed. Consider support, modem terms, payment method, call inclusions, contract conditions and any exit or equipment charges. A temporary discount can make the first few months look cheaper than the ongoing service.
Check technology and availability
The same wholesale tier is not available on every nbn access technology or at every address. Ask the provider what can actually be ordered and what performance expectations apply at your premises.
What should businesses do?
For a business, the monthly access fee is rarely the largest connectivity risk. A poorly timed outage, insufficient upload capacity or slow escalation can cost much more.
Use the 2026 change as a trigger for a short connectivity review:
- List critical applications. Include cloud systems, voice, EFTPOS, remote access, cameras and backups.
- Measure busy periods. Look at download and upload demand, latency-sensitive applications and recurring congestion.
- Check service commitments. Understand support hours, response and restoration targets, exclusions and remedies.
- Review resilience. Confirm whether backup connectivity uses a genuinely different failure path and whether failover is tested.
- Forecast twelve to twenty-four months. Allow for new staff, sites, cloud migrations or larger off-site backups.
- Compare total cost. Include equipment, installation, managed services, static addressing and early termination—not only the access fee.
nbn’s statement says business-plan wholesale changes are aligned to CPI, but it does not give a universal retail increase for all businesses.1 Business products and contracts differ, so check your service schedule and ask your provider to explain any change that applies to you.
Should you downgrade to save money?
Possibly—but only after checking the trade-off.
A household that consistently uses much less capacity may find a lower tier adequate. A business may uncover unused services or an oversized link. However, downgrading can affect upload as well as download speed, and may create congestion when several people or applications are active.
Before changing, record baseline performance and usage. Confirm the lower tier’s upload rate, contract implications and whether you can move back easily. For businesses, test whether backups, VPNs, cloud synchronisation and video meetings still complete within acceptable windows.
The reverse can also be true: a modestly higher monthly cost may be worthwhile if a different plan removes a real productivity bottleneck. The decision should come from evidence, not simply the direction of a price announcement.
The practical takeaway
nbn’s 1 July 2026 changes increased the average wholesale cost of several popular speed tiers by different amounts, held the listed Basic Offer broadly flat and aligned business-plan changes to CPI.1 They did not set a single new retail price for Australian customers.
Read any provider notice, compare the ongoing price and inclusions, and choose around actual needs. If your connection supports business-critical work, include reliability, upload performance, support and redundancy in the conversation.
Our business options include Capti fibre and fixed wireless, Reach Fibre through third-party carriers, cloud connectivity and private networks, subject to availability and solution design.2
Want to review connectivity rather than simply react to a price line? Contact Capti with your address, current service, critical applications and growth plans. We can help explore suitable options and clarify what is available at your location.
For more detail, read about checking nbn FTTP upgrade eligibility. Explore home internet availability for your location.
