A network made for more
No other network infrastructure in Australia comes close to the breadth and depth of coverage offered by nbn, but what it does have in common with all tech and telecommunications networks is that we’ll never say the job is done, time to down tools.
It was a proud moment after ten years of network rollout when the government declared the network be treated as built and fully operational, but the investment and hard work didn’t stop there.
This year’s Corporate Plan 2022 is marked by the evolution and progress of our network investment to deliver better broadband, improved customer experience, and greater connectivity to more Australians than ever before.
Today, we’re very pleased to announce the latest list of suburbs and towns across Australia – from Avalon Beach on Sydney’s northern beaches peninsula to Fremantle in Western Australia (full list of towns and suburbs available here) where an additional 300,000 homes and businesses are set to benefit from the extension of fibre deeper into communities.
It brings the total eligible footprint we’ve announced to date to just over 1.4 million premises that we will pass as we roll fibre deeper into these suburbs and towns. And we’re getting on with the job. So far, we’ve commenced the detailed design of the local fibre network that will pass approximately 548,000 premises, and we have started the roll out of new fibre to pass the first 138,000 premises.
By the end of 2023, around two million Fibre to the Node (FTTN) premises will become eligible to upgrade to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) and gain access to our highest residential wholesale speed tiers if they order a plan based on nbn™ FTTP Home Fast or higher.1
Soon, we will launch a small-scale pilot of the FTTN to FTTP upgrade program to enable the first eligible premises to access a higher speed nbn™ Home Fast, nbn™ Home Superfast or nbn™ Home Ultrafast service via their chosen internet retailer in November this year.
On Fibre to the Curb (FTTC), most premises can already achieve line speeds that are sufficient to support the nbn™ Home Fast wholesale speed tier. From next year, we’ll progressively invite customers living and working in premises served by FTTC to order a higher speed nbn™ Home Superfast or nbn™ Home Ultrafast service.1
From March next year, we will start to progressively update the ‘Check your address’ tool on the nbnco.com.au home page, enabling the first customers on FTTN and FTTC to check if their premises may be eligible to order a higher speed tier, which will likely require an FTTP upgrade.
And watch that space as we continue to update the ‘Check your address’ tool as and when we complete the design and construction of the local fibre network and more premises are identified as being eligible to order higher speed tiers.
Good news as well for customers that connect to the nbn™ network via Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) technology as we’ve made good progress and are ahead of schedule on our HFC network enhancement program. This program will increase the proportion of HFC customers able to access nbn™ Home Ultrafast. As at 30 June 2021, all of the 2.5 million premises in the HFC footprint can access wholesale download speed tiers of up to 250Mbps2, on demand, and more than 90 per cent of HFC premises can access nbn™ Home Ultrafast, on demand.
I’m pleased to say that we are on track to achieve our goal of enabling around 8 million premises or up to 75 per cent of homes and businesses on the fixed line network to access nbn’s highest wholesale speed tiers, if they choose, by 2023.
1 Conditions, eligibility criteria and costs will apply. Eligibility criteria as at the date of this document are expected to include, among other things, being designated by nbn as a simple premises (eg single dwelling unit (SDU) like premises) and once the program is available for an eligible premises, placing an order for a plan based on an eligible wholesale speed tier being, for eligible FTTN premises, nbn™ FTTP Home Fast or higher or, for eligible FTTC premises, nbn™ FTTP Superfast or higher. Additional costs for RSPs are expected to apply if the RSP downgrades the service below the minimum eligible wholesale speed tier or disconnects the service within 12 months. nbn plans to launch a small-scale pilot of the program in November 2021, a volume launch in March 2022 and further progressive releases in 2023.
2 nbn provides wholesale services to phone and internet providers. nbn™ wholesale speed tiers available to providers vary depending on the access technology in an end customer’s area. End customer experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ broadband access network, depends on the nbn™ access network technology and configuration over which services are delivered to their premises, whether they are using the internet during the busy period, and some factors outside of nbn’s control (like their equipment quality, software, chosen broadband plan, signal reception, or how their provider designs its network).