NBN Co announces upgrades for remaining homes and businesses on Fibre to the Node
- NBN Co will provide new upgrade paths for the remaining homes and businesses across Australia on the Fibre to the Node network, enabled through an investment with the Australian Government.
- The investment is expected to benefit around 622,000 homes and businesses, with more than 95 per cent of premises having the option to upgrade to nbn® full fibre via nbn Fibre to the Premises.
- nbn full fibre is faster and more reliable than Fibre to the Node and enables access to nbn's fastest upload and download speeds.
NBN Co today announced it will upgrade the remaining Fibre to the Node network across Australia, backed by an equity investment of up to $3 billion from the Australian Government, in addition to more than $800 million from NBN Co.
This investment will benefit around 622,000 homes and businesses across the country, with more than half located in regional Australia. It is expected that more than 95 per cent of these homes and businesses will have the option to upgrade to nbn full fibre via nbn Fibre to the Premises. The remaining five per cent require further design work to confirm the appropriate upgrade path.1
Work on the upgrades will start immediately and be completed progressively. The upgrades are expected to be completed by the end of 2030.
nbn full fibre is faster and more reliable than Fibre to the Node, which uses ageing copper to deliver broadband services, and enables access to nbn's fastest upload and download speeds.2 For homes and businesses, faster broadband speeds enable more people and devices to be online at the same time with minimal disruptions. This means smoother streaming, faster downloads and uploads, and stronger connections - even with multiple devices online at the same time.3
A decade ago, the average Australian home had seven internet-connected devices and consumed around 40 gigabytes per month. Today, the average household consumes more than ten times that amount across 22 internet-connected devices. Within the decade, the average monthly download usage is forecast to reach more than 1,100 gigabytes across around 40 internet-connected devices.
This investment expands the Company's existing network upgrade programs and commitments to enable more than 10 million households and businesses - or around 90 per cent of the nbn fixed line network - access to nbn's fastest wholesale speeds by the end of 2025. The Company has already enabled access to these speeds for more than 9 million households and business, including more than 4 million that can now upgrade to nbn full fibre.
Details about specific locations and upgrade timelines will be announced soon. We encourage people to register for updates via the nbn website: www.nbnco.com.au/check
Ellie Sweeney, Chief Executive Officer at NBN Co, said:
"This critical investment will deliver access to better broadband to customers in the remaining part of our Fibre to the Node footprint.
"Fast and reliable broadband boosts industry, creates jobs, sparks innovation and strengthens social and economic participation. The nation relies on the nbn® network. It carries more than 80 per cent of the nation's data and is used by more than 20 million people each day.
"The upgrades will also significantly enhance Australia's economy. Independent economic modelling by Accenture estimates the economic benefit of upgrading the remaining Fibre to the Node footprint could increase GDP by $10.4 billion, support 10,000 jobs, and create 4,000 businesses over the next decade, leading to more opportunities and growth for communities.4
"With the growing number of connected devices in Australian homes and ever-increasing data usage, this upgrade investment will enable us to meet the needs of Australian homes and businesses now and into the future and continue to lift the digital participation and capability of Australia."
Additional background
- The remaining five per cent of homes and businesses, which require further design work to find the best upgrade solution, may be upgraded to future next-generation technologies.
- To qualify for an nbn full fibre upgrade, customers need to order a service from their retailer based on the nbn Home Fast wholesale speed tier, which currently delivers wholesale download speeds of up to 100 Mbps.
- Earlier Government investments to upgrade the nbn network include $2.4 billion investment commitment to enable an additional 1.5 million homes and businesses to upgrade from Fibre to the Node to Fibre to the Premises, and $480 million to upgrade the nbn Fixed Wireless and nbn Sky Muster satellite networks.
- Additionally, funding was received from Victorian Government to expand the FTTN to FTTP program in Victoria by up to 100,000 premises under the Connecting Victoria program.
- A table containing a breakdown of the top areas that will benefit through this investment is outlined below. Top areas are based on the ABS statistical area four definitions for all states and statistical area three for ACT and NT. This is not an exhaustive list.
| State | Metro | Regional | Top Metro Locations | Top Regional Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | 67,000 | 97,000 | Newcastle and Lake Macquarie |
Far West and Orana Mid North Coast Hunter Valley Riverina |
| VIC | 20,000 | 9,000 | Melbourne - South East Melbourne - Outer East Melbourne - West Geelong |
Murray Latrobe-Gippsland Mornington Peninsula Bendigo |
| QLD | 52,000 | 58,000 | Gold Coast Sunshine Coast Ipswich Brisbane - East |
Outback Queensland Wide Bay Townsville Central Queensland |
| SA | 11,000 | 78,000 | Adelaide - North Adelaide - South Adelaide - West |
South East SA Barossa - Yorke - Mid North Outback SA |
| WA | 39,000 | 72,000 | Perth - South West Perth - North West Perth - North East |
Outback (South WA) Outback (North WA) Wheatbelt |
| TAS | 2,000 | 19,000 | Hobart Launceston and North East |
West and North West South East |
| ACT | 96,000 | - | Belconnen Tuggeranong North Canberra Woden Valley Weston Creek South Canberra |
|
| NT | - | 2,000 | Barkly Alice Springs |
|
| Australia | 287,000 | 335,000 |
Notes to Editors
- Interviews are available on request.
- B-roll and images can be accessed and downloaded for use here: nbn® Digital Asset Portal
Footnotes
1 nbn is committed to undertaking design work with the aim of providing an upgraded wholesale broadband service.
2 Customer experience on nbn full fibre, including speed, depends on your internet provider, plan, equipment quality and if you use the internet at peak times.
3 Your experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn network, depends on the nbn access technology and configuration over which services are delivered to your premises, whether you are using the internet during the busy period, and some factors outside of nbn's control (like your equipment quality, software, chosen broadband plan or how your provider designs its network). NBN Co provides wholesale services to phone and internet providers. nbn® wholesale speed tiers available to providers vary depending on the access technology in an end user's area.
4 This modelling is based on speed increases forecast by nbn if all Fibre to the Node premises were upgraded to Fibre to the Premises. The actual technology that premises are upgraded to will affect the estimate of speed increases and therefore the economic forecasts presented in this report. The investment is expected to benefit around 622,000 homes and businesses, with more than 95 per cent of them having the option to upgrade to nbn full fibre via nbn Fibre to the Premises.