The Slingshot Gigabit Broadband plan – Called Slingshot Gigantic fibre is available now and costs $99.95 a month. Slingshot Broadband say that their Slingshot Gigantic offering will be available in most towns and cities where fibre broadband has rolled out.
The reduction to less than $100 a month is an aggressive price move from Slingshot. Offering the cheapest gigabit broadband option is vital in a market like New Zealand where consumers tend to buy on price more than any other criteria.
In a quick comparison, you can find that Spark charges $40 more for a service with similar characteristics, however the Spark plan has other benefits such as the Lightbox TV streaming service and wi-fi hotspots. Looking at some other options, BigPipe charges $130 for a naked, unlimited gigabit plan whilst Vodafone Gigabit Fibre costs $110 and 2degrees charge $115 for a similar gigabit broadband plan.
The Slingshot Gigantic plan uses gigabit technology and while the term is in common use elsewhere in the world, New Zealand’s Commerce Commission rules don’t allow ISPs to describe plans as gigabit because they don’t actually deliver Gigabit speeds. Network overheads mean that the maximum available speeds to customers are less than the full 1000 mbps. In most cases customers get around 800 to 950 mbps. When launching their Slingshot Gigantic product, the company announcement errs towards a more cautious estimate in stating that customers may only see speeds in the 700 to 900 mbps range.
Click here to sign up for the Slingshot Gigantic Broadband Plan
In reality, that doesn’t matter. If speed is of the essence then ‘Gigabit’ fibre broadband plans like Slingshot Gigantic are still by far the fastest broadband option available and the best choice for heavy media users or homes with many devices.
When asked about the change in pricing to offer the cheapest gigabit fibre broadband plan, Slingshot General Manager Taryn Hamilton says the extra speed: “Makes a huge difference to the quality of the online experience”. The Slingshot broadband price cut on their Gigabit broadband offering is designed to stimulate greater take up of the fastest plans that they have available.
Gigabit broadband plans in NZ are still relatively new and only a small number of users choose them, in part that has been because they normally come at a premium price. However, with Slingshot Broadband offering a Gigabit broadband plan at under $100, Slingshot has reduced the gap between the most common fibre broadband plan that runs at 100 mbps.
If you want to compare the fastest broadband plans in NZ click here.
