- Aussies can expect more options when it comes to high speed internet after a landmark ruling by the Federal Court on Thursday
- A 2018 proposal for TPG Telecom (TPM) and Vodafone to join forces was originally blocked by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, but has now been overturned
- Vodafone remains on track for an aggressive 5G wireless roll out plan for the first half of this year — now bolstered with the support of TPG
- Australians with no access to NBN will most likely to be targeted and existing NBN users could see an opportunity to experience faster internet speeds
- However, Vodafone Chief Executive Inaki Berroeta originally dismissed the idea of 5G wireless replacing NBN back in 2018
- Shares in TPG Telecom bolstered 0.27 per cent since the Federal Court ruling was released — closing at $3.77 per share on Friday’s end of day trading
Australia’s NBN gatekeeper Telstra could face a challenge ahead as newly formed service providers TPG Telecom (TPM) and Vodafone flag new plans for 5G wireless.
On Thursday, the Australian Federal Court gave the thumbs up for the TPG-Vodafone merger, which was originally blocked by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) after a 2018 proposal.
The strongly formed alliance will put fresh blood onto the market, with the competition to heat up and Aussie consumers to reap the benefits of new options.
Historically, TPG and Vodafone have separately posed as budgeted options for mobile services. Now the formation is a big enough threat to Australian favourites Telstra and Optus.
Australian internet surfers first got a taste of 5G wireless, the latest in internet connectivity speeds, back in 2019. Before the ACCC attempted to block the merger, Vodafone was already on track for an aggressive 2020 5G rollout plan.
Existing Vodafone Chief Executive Inaki Berroeta will lead the newly merged company and called the 5G rollout a ‘priority’ on Thursday.
“What [the merger] means is we can go ahead with our planning with more clarity on how the future will look for the company,” Inaki said.
NBN vs. 5G
Putting 5G wireless up against the Australian Government’s expensive NBN rollout scheme is not a new concept by any means. Optus announced its first 5G packages to the Australian public back in November of 2019.
Optus claimed it could offer unlimited broadband at 50 to 400 megabits per second for $70 a month — in other words a superior product to NBN which typically offers 90 megabits per second speeds.
The $51 billion Australian Government NBN initiative is slated to wrap up June of this year, but many internet browsing Aussies are still waiting for their upgrade.
By offering a broadband 5G connection, Australians still stuck on slower internet could catch up with their rest of the country without waiting for the government backed infrastructure to reach the finish line.
However, in 2018, Vodafone’s Inaki Berroeta actually dismissed 5G wireless as an NBN alternative.
“The companies that are accelerating 5G and talking about 5G services before 2020, they are usually talking about fixed wireless services,” Inaki said at the time.
“And that is something that in some areas may be interesting – from my point of view there is always a place for that – but there are better solutions to offer fixed, especially when you have such a huge investment in the country around NBN.”
“I’m actually more interested in the mobile side of 5G, which I think will come probably around 2020. We’ve already done some trials, and different versions of 5G, but when the 5G is available to consumers is really when the devices are 5G-ready.”
If the TPG merger with Vodafone will change Inaki’s outlook on pitting 5G as an alternative to NBN — time will tell.
Shares in TPG Telecom bolstered 0.27 per cent since the Federal Court ruling was released — closing at $3.77 per share on Friday’s end of day trading.