NBN Co announces internet speed upgrades for 900,000 new premises

NBN Co has announced plans to provide a further 900,000 homes and businesses with free speed upgrades, bringing the total number of premises scheduled to receive a performance boost up to 1.1 million.

The upgrades are the next step in NBN Co’s massive $3.5 billion network investment program, which hopes to give up to 75% of NBN-connected addresses access to super-fast broadband speeds by 2023. The program will provide fibre extensions to eligible premises currently connected by Fibre to the Node (FTTN) technology, effectively upgrading each building to the faster Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connection type.

NBN Co has released an extensive list of suburbs and towns where upgrades are set to roll out, including the first postcodes in Tasmania, ACT and the Northern Territory that will be eligible to switch to FTTP. The company has also added to its existing list of upgrade sites across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

“We’re very pleased to announce the latest list of suburbs and towns across Australia – from Byron Bay on the eastern tip of New South Wales to Yokine in Western Australia – that will ultimately see around two million FTTN premises become eligible to join our ever-expanding Fibre to the Premises footprint, on demand,” said Stephen Rue, Chief Executive Officer at NBN Co.

“We are on track to achieve our goal of enabling around eight million premises, or up to 75% of homes and businesses on the fixed line network, to access NBN’s highest wholesale speed tiers, if they so choose, by 2023.”

You can find a complete list of suburbs and towns that will be eligible for NBN Co’s fibre upgrades here.

What does an NBN speed upgrade mean for me?

If you’re located in one of the included suburbs, and currently on a FTTN connection, you may be eligible to move to FTTP when upgrades are offered at your address. NBN Co has advised that specific upgrade details will be added to its online address checker by November 2021, so you may need to check back throughout the year to confirm if your home is eligible.

Currently, millions of Australians are on NBN connection types that disqualify them from accessing the fastest available wholesale speeds. FTTN homes are currently restricted to speeds of 100Mbps (megabits per second) or less, with many homes still unable to sign up for speeds tiers higher than 50Mbps, depending on their provider.

FTTP connections, however, can handle the super and ultra-fast NBN 250 and NBN 1000/ gigabit speed tiers, due to having fibre optic NBN technology running directly to the home, rather than using older copper wiring to connect to a neighbourhood node. By offering customers on FTTN an upgrade to FTTP, NBN Co is opening up millions of Aussies to the fast, reliable internet speeds that were originally promised on the NBN well over a decade ago.

Do I need a fast NBN plan?

An increasing number of providers offer NBN 250 and NBN 1000 plans to eligible FTTP or Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) customers, including Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Aussie Broadband, iPrimus, Kogan, iiNet, Internode, MyRepublic, and Superloop. A move to these plans can offer average peak hour download speeds of well over 200Mbps for NBN 250, and even faster for NBN 1000; as of March 2021, Telstra cites a typical evening speed of 700Mbps for its gigabit-speed ultra-fast plans.

These plans are great for families, people working from home, or anyone with heavy downloading and streaming needs wanting a fast connection free from buffering. However, they’re also expensive: currently, standard NBN 250 prices begin at around $110 per month for unlimited data, with unlimited NBN 1000 starting at $130 monthly. Check out the table below for a range of plans and deals.

Depending on your choice of NBN provider, you may be able to score introductory discounts that can save you a good chunk of cash over your first six or 12 months. However, if you’re looking for something more economical, a move to FTTP will also leave your home eligible for NBN 100, which – although slower – still offers fast evening speeds for a lower monthly price.

NBN 100 is also offered by just about every NBN provider, making it one of the more competitive speed tiers in terms of pricing and limited-time deals. With a maximum speed of 100Mbps, and typical speeds of over 90Mbps with most providers, it’s a good option for families, couples, and sharehouses, particularly in homes where multiple residents enjoy streaming, gaming or social media at the same time.

If you’re weighing up a move to fast NBN 100, we’ve compiled a range of plans below. The following table shows a selection of published unlimited Premium Evening Speed (NBN 100) plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost, from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool above to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.