Aussie Broadband just launched a new budget telco that promises more affordable NBN plans – with a slight catch

When you’re shopping around for the best NBN plans, the first thing you’ll likely look at is how much a plan costs. There can be a huge variance between the cheapest and the most expensive plans on each speed tier for example, but you might feel the cheapest providers won’t offer a reliable service. 

Buddy Telco is a new NBN provider that aims to offer the best of everything. It’s an offshoot of Aussie Broadband, in a similar vein to Telstra-owned Belong, where it uses the core Aussie Broadband infrastructure, but strips its offering back to basics so that it can be priced lower than its parent company. 

In other words, Buddy Telco sells just NBN services. It doesn’t sell hardware such as modems, so you’ll need to provide your own, and there’s no telephone customer support. Instead, all troubleshooting is handled via online live chat powered by AI technology via a web browser or smartphone app. If the AI chatbot can’t solve your problem, then you will eventually be connected to a human to fix it. 

Here’s what the price difference between Buddy Telco and Aussie Broadband on the popular NBN 50 tier looks like:

Buddy Telco currently only supports fixed-line NBN services, so if you connect via fixed-wireless or satellite this isn’t the provider for you. The telco does state on its website that it doesn’t support the latter two “yet”, so support may come in the future… but don’t hold your breath.

It’s an interesting proposition and Buddy Telco has launched at a time when prices across the NBN have seen increases. NBN Co raised its wholesale costs to internet service providers (ISPs) from July 1, 2024 by around AU$3 per plan on average. As you’d expect, ISPs have generally passed this extra cost onto consumers, with the majority of NBN providers we monitor having increased their plan prices by approximately AU$5p/m since the change went into effect.

It’s worth noting that while Buddy Telco promises value-oriented NBN plans, it’s not the cheapest provider other than on the very fastest NBN 1000 tier, where it’s cheaper by up to AU$70 a year. Buddy Telco doesn’t currently offer an NBN 250 plan, either. 

Taking the popular NBN 50 and NBN 100 plans as examples, this is how Buddy Telco compares to the cheapest providers on each tier: 

NBN 50

• Buddy Telco – AU$75p/m
• Mate – AU$55p/m (first 6 months, then AU$75p/m)
• Flip – AU$64p/m (first 6 months, then AU$74.90p/m)

NBN 100

• Buddy Telco – AU$75p/m (first 6 months, then AU$85p/m)
• Flip – AU$69p/m (first 6 months, then AU$79.90p/m)
• Spintel – AU$71p/m (first 6 months, then AU$81.95p/m)

What it hopes will convince customers to switch to its service is the fact it uses the Aussie Broadband network, which regularly performs well in official reporting conducted by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC). But Aussie Broadband is also lauded online for its high level of customer service, which obviously isn’t coming to Buddy Telco.

Below you can view all of Buddy Telco’s NBN plans.

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