Origin Energy becomes an NBN service provider

Origin Energy has quietly become an internet service provider, signing on 1500 customers to both NBN and ADSL services.

The company revealed its new internet play briefly at its annual general meeting, noting that it was trying to bundle more services to its customers.

Several telecommunications companies - including the likes of Amaysim and Dodo - have expanded into energy services in recent years; Origin is coming at it from the opposite direction, though the end result is roughly the same.

Origin told Fairfax that it is using Optus sub-wholesale services for both its ADSL and NBN offerings.

It is offering services on all NBN tiers, from 12Mbps to 100Mbps.

Head of retail Jon Briskin said customers could get “unlimited data on five different NBN and ADSL services priced between $65 and $110 per month”.

“While we remain firmly focused on providing customers with market leading smart and affordable energy solutions, at the same we are looking for other ways to make their lives easier and add value”, Briskin said.

“We see this as a natural extension of the services we already offer in the home, and by increasing the range of those services, over time we will be able to give customers discounts based on the number of services they have with us.”

Origin said it had run a six month trial of internet services provision where “one small, dedicated team of inbound sales agents connected more than 1500 customers to Origin Broadband.”