NBN Co is facing stern responses for its plan to cut national bandwidth pooling. 

NBN Co's plan to eliminate national bandwidth pooling in favour of a cost cap on 50Mbps services is facing significant opposition, with Telstra, Vocus, Optus, Aussie Broadband, and TPG Telecom all viewing the proposal as a revenue-driven decision.

The current system of connectivity virtual circuit (CVC) pooling allows providers to allocate unused bandwidth to customers with higher demands. 

For example, if a 50/20 customer doesn't use their full allocation during peak hours, the remaining bandwidth can be utilised by a 12/1 or 25/5 customer. 

Removing the pooling system would prevent providers from meeting the bandwidth needs of 25Mbps and 12Mbps customers, primarily comprising price-sensitive users.

Telstra says that “12/1 and 25/5 customers benefit the most from CVC pooling” and removing it would harm those customers. 

Aussie Broadband has echoed these concerns, predicting that axing CVC pooling would lead to increased prices for 12Mbps and 25Mbps plans or providers abandoning those tiers altogether due to their uneconomical nature.

Vocus made a submission to the NBN that highlighted the wastage of unused bandwidth if it's not added to a national pool, which could impact even the pricing of 50Mbps services. 

Moreover, it expressed the difficulties in cost forecasting at an individual customer level as required by NBN Co's proposal.

While Optus and TPG Telecom are also opposed to the plan, their specific arguments were reportedly redacted from government documents. 

However, Launtel supports NBN Co's proposal, considering it a partial move toward flat pricing for the 50Mbps tier - a demand previously rejected by several providers.