NBNCo Wants To Make It Easier For Businesses To Switch To The NBN

Many of the complaints levelled against the NBN stem from poorly executed migrations from older internet or phone services. And while slow performance is a pain, losing access to your phones, email and other communications can be crippling to a business. With the first round of disconnections from old systems now underway, NBNCo has added some new service options to help with the migration.

NBNCo is now offering the ability to run the NBN in parallel with old services. So, when you work with your phone system, security or other comms-dependent service providers, they can test services on the NBN without losing access to their old communications systems.

NBNCo says “The advantage of having a new line installed prior to the migration of Special Services is that it can help minimise disruption when transitioning services, and means businesses can ensure migration fits around the day-to-day operations while reducing the risk of going offline”.

And while that kind of service would be expected to cost extra, NBNCo says they will credit the $270 fee that’s incurred back to the service providers who do the work. In other words, you, as an end-use customer, should not be hit with increased migration costs. And it should mean you won’t be hit with any hidden surprises when you are eventually compelled to switch from your existing arrangements to the NBN.

Let’s be straight – a lot of what has happened with the NBN has been suboptimal to say the least. And while there have been lots of horror stories of slow connections, people being left for weeks without any comms because of botched installation and migrations, and some very shady advertising practices by RSPs, it seems that NBNCo is trying to make things better.

Along with the ACCC, who have been coming down hard on RSPs who misrepresent what network performance can be offered (seriously – the use of “up to” to describe connection speeds has been a problem for a long time), NBNCo is trying to make things better. Even the recent delay on FttN installations using HFC is a sign that they are trying to get things right first time, rather than installing the service only to find it doesn’t work as expected.