Aussie welcomes NBN plans to offer 40% more CVC in response to COVID-19

Aussie Broadband has welcomed NBN plans to offer up to 40% more CVC for the next three months in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

It follows concerns over increased data demand as a growing number of Australians are expected to work from home in the coming weeks.

Managing Director, Phil Britt said today’s announcement is good news but that the company hasn’t seen a significant surge in demand just yet.

“It’s great to see NBN supporting the industry and the community if the demand for bandwidth spikes upwards during the crisis,” Phil said.

“Currently, we’re not seeing the need right at this instant for an extra 40% of bandwidth, but if it does rise, it gives us and other telcos peace of mind that we can deal with it without incurring extra costs.

“I think this gives the industry some breathing space to allow us to focus on other critical issues, like providing customer service when call centre staff have to work from home,” he said.

The CVC Boost program will allow internet service providers (ISPs) to order extra connectivity virtual circuit (CVC) over the next 3 months for the same price as what they paid in February.

On Monday, Aussie Broadband announced a range of measures in response to COVID-19, including assistance for customers required to work from home.

Phil said the company’s network is already set up to meet the highest levels of traffic it sees every week – usually Sunday and Monday nights, when many people are home.

“We will upgrade as necessary if we see peaks beyond our normal high range, but we believe we are reasonably well set-up to cope,” he said.

Aussie Broadband already publishes daily CVC graphs live, so that customers can see at a glance whether its network is congested or not.

From 18 March 2020, the company also started:

Providing unmetered data usage between 6am-6pm for all customers on limited data NBN and ADSL plans

Enabling any of its few remaining customers on 12/1 speed plans to change onto a 25/5 plan to help them work from home if required

Temporarily stopping all service suspensions due to late payments

The company will continue to offer its range of services for customers who are experiencing financial hardship, including payment plans, via the MyAussie® app.

Phil said he was pleased with the NBN CVC Boost program and that it provided some relief in the coming months.

“I think this move by NBN shows great leadership in helping to provide certainty to telcos and to their customers. In a time of crisis, certainty is invaluable,” Phil said.