The Australian Government has announced a capital investment of A$3 billion into the NBN to complete its Australia-wide upgrade from fiber to the node (FTTN) to high-speed full fiber (FTTP) connections.
Adding to the equity investment, a type of investment in which the Government acquires ownership of an entity with the expectation of a future return, is an A$800 million investment from NBN Co. It is an expansion of the upgrade plan fiber network from NBN Co that aims to improve speeds for everyone across the network.
Although the company stated that initial construction of the NBN was completed in 2020, these fiber upgrades are essential to improving the experience of internet users across the country served by a less reliable copper-based NBN.
NBN Co says these upgrades, which will see the remaining approximately 622,000 homes and businesses still on node-based NBN upgraded to enable fiber to the premises, will be completed by 2030, and that work has already started. More than half of the homes and businesses that will be affected are in regional Australia.
Full fiber, also known as fiber to the premises (FTTP), is the fastest type of NBN connection and is less susceptible to drops and interruptions than FTTN.
95 percent of properties currently served with fiber to the node service will be able to voluntarily upgrade to full fiber once work to the home or business is completed. As for the remaining five per cent, NBN Co needs to carry out further design work on a case-by-case basis to confirm appropriate upgrades.
“This critical investment will provide access to better broadband for customers across the remaining part of our Fiber to the Node footprint,” said NBN Co chief executive Ellie Sweeney.
Yes, now is the time to upgrade your NBN connection
If you have access to NBN's free fiber upgrade programme, you should consider upgrading. High-speed plans are more affordable than ever from dozens of providers nationwide, and the best way to experience them is with high-speed full fiber.
Full fiber is less susceptible to outages than fiber to the node, which relies on legacy copper lines to provide its Internet service. It's faster and more consistent during peak Internet traffic hours (between 7pm and 11pm) and because it doesn't rely on the same outdated technology, it's less likely to experience outages than older copper systems.
At the time of writing, NBN Co is offering full fiber upgrades to eligible homes across Australia. To get the upgrade, you must order an NBN 100 compatible plan, or 'Home Fast' plan, from your NBN provider and arrange the upgrade with them. This plan will, in September, be updated to have 500Mbps capability (and we'll probably have to colloquially rename it 'NBN 500'), giving you a much faster network experience at home.
To start, here are our top picks right now for NBN 100 and NBN 1000. The former is perfect for upgrading to full fiber for the first time, while the latter is better for achieving high speeds at an attractive price.