Network as a Service (NaaS) for Australian Businesses: What It Actually Includes

If you have spent any time evaluating business internet or managed services in Australia, you have probably encountered the term "Network as a Service." Vendors use it in brochures, sales conversations, and comparison tables, often without much explanation of what it actually means in practice. The result is that many business owners and office managers come away with a vague sense that NaaS is probably a good thing — but no clear idea of what they would be buying, what it would cost, or whether it is relevant to their business.

This article covers all of that. It explains what NaaS actually includes, how it differs from a standard business internet plan or managed broadband product, when it makes sense for an Australian business, and what to ask before signing up.

What Is Network as a Service?

Network as a Service is a model of network delivery where the provider supplies not just the internet connection but the complete network infrastructure — the router, switches, WiFi access points, firewall, and any failover devices — as part of a managed, subscription-based service.

Under a NaaS arrangement, the customer does not own the hardware. The equipment is supplied, configured, monitored, and maintained by the provider. The customer pays a single monthly fee that covers the connectivity, the physical equipment, and the ongoing management of the network. Everything sits under one commercial relationship.

This contrasts with the traditional approach, which most Australian businesses still use. Under the traditional model, the business arranges its own internet connection through a telco or ISP, purchases its own router and access points, configures the network itself (or pays an IT consultant to do so), and manages everything going forward — including firmware updates, fault diagnosis, and any changes the business needs as it grows or moves. When something breaks, the business needs to work out whether the fault is with the ISP's connection or its own equipment, and manage the resolution accordingly.

NaaS collapses all of that into a single service. The provider is responsible for both the connection and the hardware, and for the network performing correctly — not just delivering an internet link to the wall.

The model has become more accessible for Australian SMBs over the past several years, partly because enterprise-grade hardware (particularly managed WiFi systems and next-generation firewalls) has come down in price, and partly because cloud-based network management platforms have made it practical for providers to remotely monitor and manage many sites from a central operations team.

What NaaS Typically Includes

A NaaS offering bundles several components that are otherwise purchased or managed separately. The exact scope varies between providers, but a well-structured NaaS product for an Australian business site will generally include the following.

Internet connectivity. The underlying connection — typically NBN business broadband, dedicated fibre (such as Enterprise Ethernet), or fixed wireless depending on what is available at the site. For businesses in areas with good NBN availability, NBN is the most common connectivity layer in a NaaS product. For sites that need symmetrical speeds or higher reliability, dedicated fibre may be the underlying service.

Hardware. An enterprise-grade router and firewall, managed switches (where the site has wired devices), WiFi access points across the premises, and typically a 4G or 5G failover device that provides backup connectivity if the primary connection drops. The hardware is owned and managed by the provider, not the customer. This means the business is always running current, supported equipment without having to plan or budget for hardware refresh cycles. For more on the router and firewall component specifically, see our guide to choosing a business router and firewall in Australia.

Configuration. The network is designed and configured by the provider: network architecture, VLAN segmentation (separating guest WiFi from internal traffic, for example), QoS (Quality of Service) settings to prioritise voice and video traffic, firewall rules, and SSID setup. This is work that takes time to get right and, in the traditional model, either falls to an IT consultant or simply does not get done properly.

Proactive monitoring. A 24/7 monitoring system watches the network for faults, performance degradation, and security events. Critically, this monitoring is intended to detect problems before the business notices them — rather than waiting for staff to report that the internet is down or WiFi is slow. Alerts are generated automatically, and the provider's support team responds to them.

Management and support. Ongoing firmware updates, configuration changes as the business needs them, fault resolution, and moves/adds/changes — for example, adding access points to cover a new area of the office, adjusting firewall rules, or reconfiguring the network when the business relocates. In a NaaS arrangement, these are typically included rather than billed as additional work.

Reporting. Regular reports covering uptime, bandwidth utilisation, and security event summaries. For businesses that need to demonstrate service levels to management or clients, having structured reporting built in is a meaningful difference from the traditional model where this data either does not exist or requires manual extraction.

Some NaaS providers also include SD-WAN (covered in its own section below), cloud security gateways (also called secure web gateways, which filter web traffic at a DNS or proxy level), and integration with unified communications platforms.

What NaaS Does Not Typically Include

NaaS is focused on network infrastructure — the equipment and connectivity that sits between your internet connection and your devices. It is not a broad managed IT service, and understanding the boundaries matters when comparing offerings.

NaaS does not typically include device management. Laptops, desktops, mobile phones, and tablets are the customer's responsibility. The network may carry traffic to and from those devices, but the devices themselves — patching, configuration, support — fall outside scope.

It does not include software licensing. Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, line-of-business applications, and cloud subscriptions are separate. Some managed IT providers bundle NaaS with broader managed services (helpdesk, device management, software), but the NaaS component itself is the network layer.

It does not include helpdesk support for user issues. Password resets, email problems, application errors, and printer configurations are not part of a NaaS engagement. If a staff member cannot connect to the network because there is a network fault, the NaaS provider resolves it. If they cannot access an application because of a software problem, that is a different service.

Beyond firewall rules and web filtering built into the network layer, NaaS does not typically include broader cybersecurity services — endpoint detection and response, security awareness training, vulnerability scanning, or incident response. Some providers do offer these as add-ons, but they are not standard components.

This matters because when businesses compare NaaS to their current spend, they sometimes compare the NaaS price to their internet bill alone, without accounting for what the rest of their current spend covers. The honest comparison is to look at the total cost of managing the network — connectivity plus hardware plus IT support time — and compare that to the NaaS subscription. That comparison is covered below.

How NaaS Differs from Standard Business Internet

There are broadly three tiers of how a business can acquire and manage its network connectivity, and understanding where they differ makes NaaS much clearer.

Standard business internet from a telco or ISP provides the connectivity only — the pipe from the exchange or node to your premises. The router, WiFi, switches, and everything behind the wall socket are the customer's responsibility. If the internet goes down, the ISP can investigate faults on their network, but anything on the customer's side of the connection is the customer's problem. You can read more about what to look for in a business internet plan in our guide to choosing a business internet provider in Australia.

Managed broadband (sometimes called hosted connectivity or managed internet) adds proactive monitoring and support for the connection itself. The ISP watches the link, detects degradation, and responds to faults on their end more actively than a standard plan. However, the customer still owns and manages the hardware behind the connection. If the router fails, that is still the customer's equipment.

NaaS goes further than both. The provider owns and manages the hardware as well as the connection, and takes responsibility for the network performing correctly end-to-end. The fault boundary is removed: if something is wrong with the network, the NaaS provider owns the diagnosis and resolution regardless of whether the issue is on the connection or in the hardware.

This distinction matters most when things go wrong. With standard internet, if staff cannot get online, the business owner calls the ISP, who says the connection looks fine from their side, which means the problem is probably the router, which the customer owns, which means calling an IT person, who charges by the hour, who may be available tomorrow. With NaaS, the provider is responsible for both sides, and the fault resolution is handled by whoever manages the service — no handoff, no ambiguity about ownership.

NaaS Pricing and Cost Comparison

NaaS is typically priced on a per-site, per-month basis. The price varies based on the size of the site (number of users, number of access points required), the type of connectivity (NBN or dedicated fibre), and the service level included.

For an Australian SMB on NBN with a small office of 10 to 20 users — a managed router/firewall, one or two WiFi access points, and 4G failover included — a NaaS subscription might range from approximately $300 to $700 per month depending on the provider and the specific features included. Larger sites, or those requiring dedicated fibre rather than NBN, will sit higher.

To understand whether that pricing is reasonable, it helps to look at what the alternative actually costs when all components are included.

A standard NBN business connection costs roughly $80 to $200 per month depending on speed tier and provider. Hardware — a good business-grade router/firewall and one or two managed access points — costs between $800 and $3,000 to purchase outright. Amortised over three years (a reasonable hardware refresh cycle), that is $22 to $83 per month. IT management is the variable that most businesses underestimate. If the business calls an IT consultant occasionally at $150 to $200 per hour, costs may be low in quiet periods but spike whenever something goes wrong. If the business has a managed services agreement that covers the network, that typically adds $500 to $2,000 per month depending on scope.

For many businesses, the total cost of the traditional approach — connection, hardware, and IT management — is comparable to a NaaS subscription. Whether NaaS is cheaper, similar, or more expensive depends heavily on how much IT support the business actually consumes in practice. Where NaaS tends to win on cost is in reducing unexpected spend: hardware failure, emergency call-out rates, and unplanned downtime have a cost that rarely appears in a simple budget comparison. Understanding the full cost of your internet arrangement, including service level expectations, is covered in our article on business internet contracts in Australia.

When NaaS Makes Sense for Australian Businesses

NaaS is most appropriate for businesses that want simplicity over control, and for whom the network is critical infrastructure rather than something they want to think about.

Businesses without dedicated IT staff. When network management falls to the business owner, the office manager, or a staff member who has some technical aptitude but it is not their job, the result is typically reactive: things work until they do not, and when they break, the resolution is slow and stressful. NaaS shifts that burden to the provider.

Multi-site businesses. If a business has two or more offices, each needing consistent, managed connectivity without a local IT person on the ground, NaaS provides a standardised approach across sites. The provider manages all locations from a central platform, which is more efficient than maintaining separate hardware contracts and IT arrangements at each site. Network redundancy across sites is also easier to design and manage under a NaaS model — for more on this topic, see our guide to business internet redundancy and failover in Australia.

Businesses that have experienced network downtime. If a business has gone through a period of repeated internet outages or poor WiFi performance, and the resolution process has been slow and fragmented — dealing with the ISP, then the hardware vendor, then an IT contractor — a NaaS arrangement consolidates accountability. There is one provider, one phone number, and one party responsible for fixing it.

Businesses moving into a new office or fit-out. Rather than coordinating a separate internet connection, hardware purchase, installation contractor, and configuration, a NaaS provider can deliver the complete network as part of the fit-out. This simplifies both the project and the ongoing management.

Where NaaS is less appropriate. For businesses with experienced, in-house IT staff who prefer to own and control their network infrastructure, NaaS can feel like a trade-off of capability for convenience that does not suit their operating model. Very small businesses — one to five people in a small office — often do not need the managed layer; a good business NBN plan and a reliable consumer-grade router genuinely meets the need, and the economics of NaaS do not stack up at that scale.

SD-WAN and NaaS

Some NaaS offerings incorporate SD-WAN — Software-Defined Wide Area Networking. It is worth understanding what SD-WAN adds, because providers sometimes lead with it as a headline feature, which can make the product seem more complex or expensive than the use case requires.

SD-WAN adds an intelligent software layer above the physical connections. Rather than the network simply sending all traffic through a single internet link, SD-WAN can bond multiple connections — NBN plus 4G, for example — and make intelligent, real-time decisions about how traffic is routed. It can prioritise specific applications (VoIP, video conferencing, cloud storage) over others, route traffic over the best-performing path in real time, and provide centralised visibility and control across multiple sites from a single dashboard.

For multi-site businesses with varying connectivity types at different locations — some on dedicated fibre, some on NBN, some on fixed wireless — SD-WAN within a NaaS model can meaningfully improve performance and simplify management. The centralised visibility means the IT team or the provider can see the status of every site's connectivity from one place, rather than logging into each site individually.

For a single-site SMB on a reliable NBN or dedicated fibre connection, SD-WAN adds capability that is rarely needed. The business pays for sophistication it does not use. A well-configured managed router with 4G failover covers the redundancy requirements of most single-site businesses. Understanding what constitutes appropriate redundancy for your site is covered in our article on business internet redundancy and failover in Australia.

Questions to Ask a NaaS Provider

Before signing up for a NaaS service, the following questions are worth asking explicitly — not because providers are trying to hide the answers, but because the details vary significantly between offerings and can materially affect the value of the service.

Who owns the hardware, and what happens when you cancel? In most NaaS arrangements, the hardware remains the property of the provider. If you cancel the service, the provider reclaims the equipment. This means the business is left without a router or access points unless it purchases replacements. Some providers allow buyout at end of contract; clarify this upfront.

What are the SLAs for uptime and fault response? A NaaS product without a documented SLA is not meaningfully different from a standard internet plan with some extra hardware. Look for a committed uptime figure, a fault response time (how quickly the provider will acknowledge a reported fault), and a resolution time (how quickly the fault will be fixed). Understand whether SLA credits apply if targets are missed. Our article on business internet SLAs in Australia covers what these commitments typically look like and what to watch for in the small print.

What is included in the base price versus billed separately? Some providers offer a low headline price but charge separately for configuration changes, additional access points, moves, or support calls. Ask specifically what is and is not included, and whether there is a fair-use limit on management time.

How are moves, adds, and changes handled? As a business grows, changes premises, or adds staff, the network needs to change with it. Some NaaS providers include moves/adds/changes in the monthly fee. Others bill per incident. For a business that expects to grow or reorganise, this distinction can significantly affect the real cost of the service.

What is the minimum contract term, and what are the exit terms? NaaS contracts are typically 24 to 36 months, reflecting the provider's investment in equipment and configuration. Understand what happens if the business needs to exit early — whether there is a break fee, and how it is calculated. For more on understanding what to look for in business internet contracts generally, see our guide to business internet contracts in Australia.

What monitoring is in place, and how are you notified? Ask how the provider detects faults and how they communicate with you. Are alerts sent proactively, or does the business need to report problems first? Is there a portal where the business can see the status of its network in real time?

Does the service include 4G/5G failover, and is the SIM data included? Failover is a frequently advertised feature of NaaS products, but the SIM data used by the failover device is sometimes metered and billed separately, or capped at a level that would not sustain a business during an extended primary link outage. Clarify both whether failover is included and what the data allowance looks like.

How Pickle Approaches Managed Connectivity

Pickle provides managed business internet services for Australian businesses, including hardware provision, proactive monitoring, VoIP integration, and 4G failover — the components that matter most for the businesses Pickle works with.

Our approach is to start with an honest assessment of what a business actually needs. For some businesses, a reliable NBN business plan with a good router is sufficient. For others — multi-site operations, businesses moving into a new office, or businesses that have been through too many rounds of slow fault resolution — a fully managed network makes more sense. We do not lead with the most expensive option; we look at the site, the team size, and what the business is currently managing itself, and work out what simplifies things meaningfully.

If you are evaluating whether a managed network approach makes sense for your business or your next office fit-out, the conversation starts with your situation. Call us on 1300 688 588 or email [email protected] and we will work through what makes sense for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the difference between NaaS and a standard business internet plan?

A: A standard business internet plan provides the connectivity only — the link from the network to your premises. Everything behind that connection, including the router, WiFi, and switches, is your responsibility to purchase, configure, and maintain. Network as a Service includes the connectivity plus the hardware plus the ongoing management of the network. The provider owns the equipment, monitors the network, and is responsible for resolving faults regardless of whether the issue is on the connection or in the hardware. The practical difference is accountability: with a standard plan, fault resolution can involve multiple parties; with NaaS, there is a single provider responsible for the whole thing.

Q: Do I own the hardware in a NaaS arrangement?

A: Typically, no. In most NaaS arrangements, the hardware — router, access points, switches, failover device — remains the property of the provider for the duration of the contract. If you cancel the service, the provider reclaims the equipment. Some providers offer a buyout option at the end of the contract term, which would transfer ownership to the customer. Before signing, confirm the ownership position and what happens to your network if the contract ends, so you can plan for continuity.

Q: Is NaaS suitable for a small business with 5 to 10 staff?

A: It can be, depending on the circumstances. For a business in that size range that has no IT staff, has experienced ongoing connectivity or WiFi issues, or is moving into a new office and wants everything handled, NaaS is a reasonable option — the economics can stack up when you include the cost of hardware and occasional IT support. For a business with a simple setup, a reliable internet connection, and a router that has been working without issues, the additional cost of NaaS may not be justified. The honest answer is that it depends on how much time and money the business is currently spending managing its network, and whether simplifying that has real value.

Q: What happens to my network if I cancel a NaaS contract?

A: Because the hardware is owned by the provider, cancelling a NaaS contract typically means the provider reclaims the equipment. The business is left needing to arrange replacement connectivity and hardware independently. Depending on the timing, this can result in a gap in service while new equipment is procured and configured. Before signing a NaaS contract, it is worth understanding the exit terms and planning for what continuity would look like if the arrangement ends — whether at the end of the contract term or earlier. Some contracts include a hardware buyout option that avoids this situation.

Q: Does NaaS include WiFi, or just the internet connection?

A: A properly structured NaaS offering includes WiFi as part of the package — access points are supplied, installed, configured, and managed by the provider as part of the service. This is one of the meaningful differences between NaaS and a managed broadband product, which typically covers the connection but leaves the WiFi to the customer. If you are comparing NaaS offerings and one does not include WiFi hardware and management, check whether that is genuinely a NaaS product or a managed internet product under a different name. The scope of what is included in the monthly fee is worth clarifying explicitly before committing.