(L-R) MyRepublic CEO, Malcolm Rodrigues, New Zealand managing director, Vaughan Baker, and Australia managing director, Nicholas Demos.
Upstart internet service provider (ISP), MyRepublic, has continued its quest to make waves in the Australian market with the introduction of “Ultra-Fast Internet” for a select number of small to medium businesses (SMBs) and residents in Wollongong.
The Singapore-based company said it will provide speeds up to 40 times faster than the typical National Broadband Network (NBN) speeds currently offered to the local community.
In a move seemingly intended to raise its local brand awareness, the company launched a “competition” inviting entrants to say why speeds of up to 1Gbps are important to them.
The winning entry was from a Wollongong resident, and now the company plans to turn on free speed upgrades to the NBN 1Gbps nominal access speed for a year within a 10km radius of the winner’s address.
MyRepublic said it will heavily subsidise the cost of delivering the 1Gpbs internet speeds to Wollongong customers as it creates a “Gigatown” to “demonstrate the benefits Ultra-Fast Next Generation Fibre can deliver – and show Australians hunger for reasonably priced access to higher speed, premium fibre products.”
While the value of the subsidy is yet to be publicly given a dollar value, it could end up being fairly substantial, given that a recent deployment in Launceston by local Telco, Launtel, was charging approximately $1000 per month for a gigabit service.
MyRepublic said that in July it will offer unlimited broadband on the 1Gbps speed tier to a limited number of new customers in Wollongong for $129.99 per month on a 12-month term.
“MyRepublic has been instrumental in delivering affordable 1Gbps speeds in Singapore and New Zealand, so we can’t wait to transform Wollongong into a Gigatown and let locals experience real Ultra-Fast connections to their residences, businesses and communities,” MyRepublic Australia managing director, Nicholas Demos, said.
“This is the first time an ISP has made the premium 1Gbps nbn service available to consumers and we are excited to see the difference it can make for our customers,” he said.
In fact, MyRepublic is the second company to offer such speeds but is the first to heavily subsidise costs for consumers. Launtel consumers in Launceston have been able to access a gigabit service since 30 May, but the price is beyond the realm of what is affordable for most consumers.
“Obviously, things like streaming and gaming will be a better experience, but we will also demonstrate how Australia should be taking advantage of the digital economy. We need to open up more opportunities for people to be able to work remotely, reducing the requirement for commuting and drive innovation - generating real economic and social benefits like more jobs, improve efficiency and economic growth,” Demos added.
In late 2016, the company’s CEO, Malcolm Rodrigues, told ARN that he expected to prompt local telecommunications providers to change the way they do business within months.
