Amaysim readies NBN offering for May launch

Amaysim has announced that its National Broadband Network (NBN) offering, Amaysim broadband, will be launched in May and will initially target the company's 1.3 million existing customers.

In delivering the company's results for the first half of the 2017 financial year, Amaysim CEO Julian Ogrin told shareholders that he expects to increase subscriber tenure through NBN building, and said Amaysim is expecting to deliver a "superior customer experience" in the NBN.

"We will launch our broadband offering in the next 90 days with an initial focus on our 1.03 million subscribers or over 600,000 households across the Amaysim Group aligned to the NBN rollout," Ogrin said on Monday.

"Success in our mobile business has positioned Amaysim to continue to grow share of household wallet by acquiring new subscribers, while expanding our focus to become a multi-vertical company. We are excited to complement our competitive mobile products with a compelling broadband offering."

The company confirmed on Monday it will launch three "simple" NBN data plans under the Amaysim brand, for a cost of AU$60, AU$70, and AU$90 respectively.

"We are excited about the opportunity in front of us to leverage our loyal subscriber base and our technology platform with our entry into broadband," Ogrin added.

The launch follows the AU$4 million acquisition of Australian Broadband Services (ABS) last year, which Ogrin previously said allowed Amaysim to take advantage of what he called the "once-in-a-generation forced churn event" that is the NBN.

"Expanding further into Australian households is a key priority for us, and our move into broadband provides the company with an opportunity to address a new consumer segment and capture a greater share of household wallet," Ogrin said at the company's annual general meeting in November.

"Progress is on track to combine the strengths of the AusBBS technology stack with our go-to-market strategy, digital marketing expertise, and subscriber experience overlay.

"We will differentiate our product offering through a dual-brand positioning, value, quality of service, subscriber empowerment, and simplicity."

The news from Amaysim comes as the company rolling out Australia's National Broadband Network announced the addition of a new functionality to its rollout checker, allowing consumers to find out when they can contact retail service providers to connect their premises to the network.

NBN is expected to "almost" reach its halfway point by June 30, with 5.4 million premises due to be able to connect by then.

During the first quarter of the 2017 financial year, Amaysim invested AU$0.4 million into its Amaysim broadband offering, and expects a "modest" full-year investment of approximately AU$3 million to develop and launch Amaysim broadband.

Amaysim broadband is expected to generate average revenue per user (ARPU) of approximately AU$62.00, based on current plan pricing and allocation of speed.

For the six months to December 2016, Amaysim reported a 10 percent increase year on year in underlying net profit after tax, to AU$8.3 million.

Statutory earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at AU$17.3 million for the six months to December, which was an increase over the same period a year prior of 564 percent. Net revenue for H1 was AU$136.6 million.

As of December 31, 2016, Amaysim boasted 1.03 million mobile subscribers, securing 59,000 new customers during the six-month period.