Boost Mobile takes on ‘less trusted’ telcos with NBN launch

Popular prepaid provider Boost Mobile is finally making the move into broadband, announcing plans to begin offering high-speed NBN plans to Aussie customers.

The challenger telco — which offers SIM-only mobile service on Telstra’s nationwide network — has partnered with wholesale provider BTB to launch its first-ever home internet plans. Its NBN products will be available soon to both new and existing Boost Mobile customers.

Although specific prices haven’t been confirmed, Boost Mobile will offer standard NBN plans, along with super and ultra-fast ‘NBN+’ options for homes with Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connections (also known as Fibre to the Home).

Boost Mobile founder: the time is right for an NBN challenger

The jump to offering broadband seems well overdue for Boost, which was launched in Australia back in 2000. Speaking to Canstar Blue, Boost Mobile Founder Peter Adderton said the decision to add broadband plans was down to NBN Co’s increased speeds, along with its FTTP roll out.

“I’ve always been about making sure the product is right. So the fact that NBN is obviously launching fibre, so we’ve now got gigabits of speed going into the home. The fact that their overall platform has got better and it’s getting faster almost every day.

“I mean, they’re announcing new speeds. And so it’s now at a stage where we’ve got NBN+, which is what we call it, which is the Fibre to the Home. It’s now at a point where I think that we can put the Boost brand there and stand by it.”

Boost Mobile plans to offer its current mobile customers a range of benefits for signing up to Boost NBN, and new broadband customers will also have access to special prepaid offers. Alongside competitive pricing, the telco is also going all-in on what it calls ‘elevated’ customer service for NBN users.

“I want to make sure that customer care is going to be the linchpin of what we built,” Mr Adderton said.

“First impression anyone’s going to have with the brand. It’s gonna be when they call [customer] care. And most people who call care, just don’t chat: they call because they’ve got a problem. And so we’ve got to make sure that we’re able to fix that, and know what the problem is hopefully in advance.”

Compare Boost Mobile SIM plans

The following table shows a range of Boost Mobile plans as published on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard cost, lowest to highest, then by data allowance, largest to smallest. Use our mobile phone plan comparison tool to see a wide range of plans from other providers. This table includes products with links to referral partners.

Small telcos grow as support for the ‘big three’ drops

While Telstra, Optus and Vodafone still dominate the market, major missteps by the big telcos — such as network outages and data hacks — have led many customers to take their business elsewhere. And that’s where Mr Adderton believes small players like Boost can fill in the gaps.

“What we’re seeing is a real significant shift away from the big old telcos. And people are now willing to move towards more consumer-friendly, consumer-focused brands, like Boost.

“We’ve seen that with our own Boost prepaid business. And so, now [do] you need to be big in order to be trusted? In fact, it’s the reverse now with consumers: the bigger you are, the less trusted you are.”

Competition in the NBN space has fired up in the last 12 months, with smaller names like Aussie Broadband and Superloop expanding their market share. Despite the range of brands available to NBN customers, Mr Adderton is confident that Boost broadband is in the right place to succeed.

“One of the things I love about NBN is everybody has the same product right across the board. It’s one of the things that the big carriers hate about NBN. Because it really comes down to who can treat the customer better and who can market better to the customer.

“So if you think about NBN today in Australia, it really comes down to a battle of marketing and branding. And that’s something that I’ve been doing my whole life.

“Right now, Aussie [ Broadband] and Superloop are fighting amongst each other — trying to work out who’s worth more, and who’s worth less. So they’re distracted from their consumers. I think they lost a little bit of their focus from where they came out of the gate. So I actually think now, we played the timing perfectly.”

NBN vs 5G: “Why would you pay more for 5G?”

Outside of NBN, major telcos are also pushing 5G home internet as a simple, plug-and-play alternative. Mr Adderton has been openly critical of the push for 5G in the past, and still doesn’t see the next-generation mobile technology as a true threat to fixed-line broadband.

“It’s not a replacement. It’s in my opinion an enhancement. You know, I think if you’re under 25 and you’re single and you’re in an apartment or in your university, hey, [5G plans are] great. That’s a great product to get. But 4G was doing that anyway.

“So yeah, I haven’t changed my opinion on 5G. They’re now talking about 6G — so may I ask everybody, why do you think 5G is successful? Why would you pay more for 5G?”

If you’re keen on Boost Mobile’s upcoming NBN products, you can register your interest via the telco’s website. We’ll also keep readers updated on plans once more details become available.

Compare NBN plans and prices

New wholesale NBN pricing was introduced in December, leading to many providers tweaking their monthly plan costs. If it’s been a while since you compared NBN prices, see what’s available across some of the most popular speed tiers below.