Competition regulator chair Rod Sims says ultra-high speed 5G mobile networks could “bypass” the $51 billion national broadband network, as telecommunications companies attempt to bolster their shrinking margins.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chair Rod Sims, at an annual Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) conference in Sydney on Tuesday, said telcos had long complained about low margins on the NBN due to the cost of providing enough capacity to handle high speeds and data demands.

Competition regulator chair Rod Sims has flagged 5G as a potential disruptor of the NBN. Credit:Nic Walker

“So for those [providers] with an alternative mobile or wireless network, it may be more cost-effective to offload some fixed NBN data traffic onto their own network (where consumers have a hybrid modem) or seek to supply some services entirely over their own mobile network, completely bypassing the NBN,” he said.

Telstra has a modem that offers both NBN and 4G services in one, while Vodafone also has a back-up 4G option on its NBN modems.