We are still technically a few months before the official deployment of NBN 500 plans in Australia, but Extel – one of our favorite suppliers here in Techradar – jumped the pistol early, presenting a new plan with download speeds of 500 Mbps.
Available from today for all those who seek to defeat their internet at home – provided you are on a premise fiber NBN connection (FTTP) or hybrid fiber (HFC) – Extel says that its new plan is the only one to consider – and it is so confident all its other NBN plans.
The price is correct
The price can be a huge factor contributing to the decision of a new NBN plan. Take a tour and you will find that “premium” suppliers at high prices invoice their plans can often be caught up in small ISAs – with an almost identical service – for much less.
The Extel One plan absolutely adheres to this philosophy – not only is it the first plan of consumption NBN 500 to come on the market, but it is also incredibly at a competition price at $ 80 in per month.
To put this in context, the current average monthly cost of a 100 Mbps NBN 100 plan – which is slower than Exeler’s offer – is just over $ 90. And, going further, the NBN 25 plan of suchra, which is 20x Slow down That the Exetel plan will cost you $ 93 per per month. Exponentially more speed for less money is a victory in our book.
And, although there may not be any introduction discounts – something we expect from the best NBN plans – we direct that the cost per megabit proposed here is such an exceptional value that it does not even need it.
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A plan that works for you
EXTEL also introduces new advantages with this NBN 500 plan, including an evolution of its SPEED BOOST Days functionality and the possibility of saving money by temporarily “downgrading” the plan while you are far from your home.
On the stimulation front, if you find that you need faster speeds for a short period (to download a massive video game of new shows, for example), you can upgrade your NBN 500 plan to reach NBN 1000 speeds – which says Extel is around 811 Mbps of typical evening speeds – for $ 1 per day. The Telco calls for this “distortion speed” and has, for a long time, offered a speed of speed speed in its now deconted NBN plans which work in the same way.
The other new feature, which Extel calls Hibernate, allows you to lower the speed of your plan to the equivalent of NBN 12 (with maximum downloads of 12 Mbps) and save $ 1 on your monthly bill for each day it is active.
We can see that this is particularly useful if you are going to be far from your home for a long time, for example, when you go on vacation. There is no limit to the duration for which you can keep the hibernate active, so if you go for a month, for example, you can save up to $ 31.
Deformation speed and hibernate can be activated and deactivated directly in the Exetel application, which is available for iPhone or Android.
Friends with social benefits
Another new feature being introduced with the Exetel One NBN plan is a friend’s reference program. This is not a new concept, but it is the first time that Extel has adopted one. Thanks to this, if you refer a friend to Extel – and this friend is part of NBN – you will both receive $ 1 reduction on your plan every month as long as you remain connected.
There is no limit to the number of people you can refer and, because it is stacked, you can theoretically get your Exeler service for free every month – although you will obviously need to have a very Large circle of friends.
How does Extel compare themselves to other NBN suppliers?
We keep an attentive eye on the NBN retail service providers (RSP) here in Techradar, and use a combination of prices of the registered speed and data at Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) to identify the suppliers that are worth the most your time and your money.
EXTEL has been at the top of the list on many measures for some time, because it has long offered competitive prices and SUDEVINS regularly with regard to typical evening download speeds.
In fact, in the most recent ACCC broadband report, published in June 2025, Extel was revealed that 104.5% of the plan download speeds during all hours of the day and 103.7% impressive during the busiest hours. Alone Teltra, the largest supplier in the country (and the most expensive), turned out to offer faster speeds, and even then, only by a small margin less than 1%.
On the basis of its performance with other plans and what the Extel claims on itself, we expect this new NBN 500 level to achieve its maximum theoretical download speeds of 500 Mbps in many circumstances – although we have to wait for the ACCC to weigh (which generally takes at least several months) to have confirmation.
Following steps
NBN CO has great hopes for the NBN 500 level in general, and even if we do not have direct competitors against the judge, the Exetel plan presents itself as a good option for most houses, promising high -speed downloads for a cheaper price than many NBN 50 and NBN 100 options.
If you wish to register, you will need to make sure you have an HFC connection FTTP in your premises – to confirm in both cases, simply go to the Exetel website to check your address and register. Telco has confirmed that, for the moment at least, you will not be able to activate the upgrade of free fibers to take advantage of this plan.
And if you are already an Exetel client with an FTTP or HFC connection, you can easily migrate to the new One Plan via the Exetel application.
