NBN 500 plans officially arrive this Sunday – but you can jump the queue with these pre-launch deals

Exetel One Plan | Typical Evening Speed 500Mbps | $80p/m

Exetel’s NBN 500 plan might not be the cheapest here, but it is our top pick out of the three early options. Allow us to explain why. When this plan launched, Exetel took the drastic step of discontinuing all its other NBN offerings, claiming that this plan is the only option needed – thus the ‘One’ in its name. While it doesn’t include an introductory discount, it does have the lowest ongoing cost, so you can sign up and not have to worry about switching to another provider once the promotional period ends.
This plan also includes some unique and handy features – called Warp Speed and Hibernate – which can be managed through the Exetel app. Warp Speed lets customers temporarily upgrade your service to NBN 1000 speeds for just $1 per day, while Hibernate reduces your plan speeds to 12Mbps and knocks $1 per day off your monthly bill. These tools are a great way to adjust your speeds and costs as needed, making the plan very flexible.
• $80 minimum monthly cost
• $960 first year cost
• $960 second year cost

Spintel Home Turbo | Typical Evening Speed 500Mbps | $64p/m (for the first 6 months, then $86.95p/m)

For the first 6 months, Spintel’s NBN 500 plan only costs $64 per month, making it the cheapest overall and around $5p/m less than the next nearest competitor, Exetel (above). Despite that lower price, the provider still claims to offer maximum download speeds (i.e. 500Mbps) even during busier evening hours. Do note, however, that after the introductory period ends, the price does go up to $86.95 per month – around $7 more than Exetel's ongoing rate. Still, it easily has the lowest total first-year cost of $905.70, so if you’re OK paying a bit of a premium on an ongoing basis (and/or don’t mind switching to another provider after six months), this plan currently offers the cheapest way to try NBN 500.
• $64 minimum monthly cost
• $905.70 first year cost
• $1,043.40 second year cost

Tangerine Speedy Max | Typical Evening Speed 700Mbps (until 14/9, then 500Mbps) | $68.90p/m (for the first 6 months, then $88.90)

Tangerine's NBN 500 deal is a bit different from the above two, because the provider is putting early subscribers onto its NBN 1000 tier until the official switchover occurs on September 15. This means that you'll be able to enjoy faster typical evening speeds of 700Mbps until that date. Additionally, for the first 6 months, this plan only costs $68.90 per month, after which it goes up by $20 to $88.90p/m. That means that the total first year cost comes to $946.80 – slightly cheaper than Exetel, but not quite as good as Spintel's new deal. After the first year, it does also become the most expensive NBN 500 option of these three early plans, costing around $22 more than Spintel’s and $106 more than Exetel’s.
• $68.90 minimum monthly cost
• $946.80 first year cost
• $1,066.80 second year cost