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Customer overview of Metro Broadband Connect
For an explanation of capitalised terms, please refer to the Metro Broadband Connect glossary of terms.
Eligibility requirements
Services available under Metro Broadband Connect
Getting a Metro Broadband Connect service
Metro Broadband Connect Fact Sheet (File size: 138Kb)
To be eligible for a service, you must meet three eligibility criteria.
First, you must not have had access to an equitably priced broadband service since 8 March 2006. If you already have a broadband service that meets all the criteria for a Metro Broadband Connect Service except for price, you may still be eligible for assistance under the program.
Second, you must be one of the following four customer types:
- a residential customer;
- a small business with 20 or fewer permanent full-time employees;
- a not-for-profit organisation with 20 or fewer permanent full-time employees; or
- a not-for-profit organisation that intends to provide public access Internet facilities.
Third, your residence or business must be in the Metro Broadband Connect area, which covers:
- the capital cities of Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney; and
- the Central Coast of NSW, Geelong , the Gold Coast including Tweed Heads, Newcastle , Palmerston and Wollongong .
If you are in doubt whether you are in this area, you can access the Metro Broadband Connect area map (scroll down to ‘Metropolitan Broadband Connect').
Customers who live or conduct business outside the Metro Broadband Connect Area and are seeking a broadband service may still be eligible for assistance under the program.
Please note that only one service can be provided to each premises for each customer type. For example, one service for a resident and one for a small business customer could be provided to the same premises.
Premises constructed after the 8 March 2006 and premises that have previously had a service are generally not eligible because the infrastructure necessary to provide an equivalent service is usually in place.
Where the infrastructure is not in place (for example, when the customer of a two-way satellite service takes the satellite dish with them) the residence or business may be eligible for a new service.
Services available under Metro Broadband Connect
A Metro Broadband Connect service is a broadband service that meets the program's criteria for price, performance and functionality.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) registered with Metro Broadband Connect must offer at least:
- one threshold service, with a peak download data speed of at least 256 kbps and a peak upload speed of at least 64 kbps with a minimum monthly usage of at least 500 MB; and
- one added value service, with a peak download data speed of at least 512 kbps and a peak upload speed of at least 128 kbps with a minimum monthly usage of at least 1 GB.
ISPs may also register other Metro Broadband Connect added value services with additional functionality or features, which are also eligible for incentive payments.
If you receive a service and continue to demand it, your provider must continue to supply it for three years from the date you were first connected, on the terms and conditions and at the price agreed to in the customer contract.
Providers are required to specify their intended policies in relation to their customers' terms and conditions after this three-year period. They may be refused registration if they cannot demonstrate that they will continue to provide services at similar prices beyond the period of their contract with customers. However, the Australian Government cannot give any assurances that terms and conditions will be maintained after the three-year period expires.
Getting a Metro Broadband Connect service
If no Metro Broadband Connect services or equivalent services are available in your area, you can register your interest on the demand register, where you will be required to declare that you cannot receive an equivalent service.
Once you have registered your interest, your contact details will be made available to all providers. If any of these providers can offer you a service, they will contact you directly. It is a condition of the provider's agreement that they can't contact potential customers more than once in a 30-day period to offer the same or similar services without the prior consent of the customer.
If you are unable to obtain a service after six months from the date you registered on the demand register, your residence or business is deemed eligible to receive a Metro Broadband Connect high cost service. A high cost service attracts a higher incentive payment for providers.
For those customers who are already connected to a broadband service that meets all the criteria except for price, you may be eligible for assistance to reduce the price. Metro Broadband Connect will offer incentive payments to ISPs to extend the coverage of their networks and/or reduce the price of their existing broadband services.
Once you have a service connected, the program does not place any restrictions on moving to other ISPs at any time. However, when considering a move, you should first check the terms and conditions of your contract with your current ISP. You should also be aware that the new ISP will not be eligible to receive an incentive payment for providing you with a service and will not be obliged to offer you Metro Broadband Connect terms and conditions.
Back to Metro Broadband Connect webpage