David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A few hours ago, the National Broadband Network released disturbing new figures about its continuing loss of customers. Under the communications minister, the NBN is facing a customer crisis, with more and more Australians abandoning the network. The NBN has four types of customers: brownfields, referring to existing homes; greenfields, referring to new developments; satellite customers; and fixed wireless customers. NBN customers continue to grow in the greenfields area, as new housing developments commence, as one would expect. But, outside of the greenfield sites, the NBN is seeing very concerning losses. These losses have accelerated after recent price increases, and those price increases were described by the Minister for Communications as 'great news for consumers'.

Today, the NBN revealed that it lost more than two per cent of its entire satellite customer base in one month, January 2024. From 28 December 2023 until 1 February—just a few days ago—the NBN lost 2.3 per cent of its entire satellite customer base. Think about that: about one in 50 net NBN satellite customers walked away in a period of just a few weeks. Imagine if that happened to a business, if you lost one in 50 of your customers in just a few weeks. It is an absolutely shocking result.

The government says that NBN satellite customers will move to its fixed wireless product. There's a bit of a problem with that, because in that period the fixed wireless product lost customers as well. During that period, from 28 December to 1 February—so the last five weeks—the NBN lost even more members from its core brownfields product, which refers to existing homes. During those five weeks, as the NBN revealed in the data it released just a few hours ago, the NBN lost on a net basis more than 3,500 customers. This is on top of the large decline that we saw in NBN customers in 2023 in these key categories. In the brownfields category in 2023, the NBN on a net basis lost 35,000 customers. That was the first year that it had ever lost customers in the brownfield segment. Its satellite business on a net basis lost 12.5 per cent of its entire customer base, getting smashed in the market as Australians looked elsewhere. If you exclude the greenfields developments, which continue to grow, the NBN suffered a loss of 40,000 customers in 2023, the first year in its history where it has lost customers outside of new housing developments. That first year occurred entirely on the watch of this quite hapless communications minister.

The great news that Minister Rowland welcomed in October was that prices in the NBN would be rising by up to 10 per cent, and, when they did, people left. Since the price rise announcement on 17 October, the NBN has lost from the brownfields business, on a net basis, 17,000 customers. That's an annualised rate of about 50,000 customers. The rate of loss is going up and up. In July, prices are going to go up again. The great news that Minister Rowland welcomed will see NBN estimate its charges rise by more than four per cent, which obviously will then be passed on to consumers.

The question that has to be asked here is: what is going on? The NBN—the National Broadband Network—which has gained customers every year since its inception in 2023 lost tens of thousands of customers, excluding those greenfield sites. As the satellite business collapses, the government's response is to convene a roundtable of academics. As Australians reel under the cost-of-living crisis, the government backs in further price rises for the NBN. It's a very serious situation and something that has to be addressed.