The Federal Government has committed AU$2.4 billion towards upgrading an estimated 1.5 million homes and businesses with full fibre NBN, replacing the poor-performing copper wire that currently serves them.
The upgrade is likely coming to regional areas and outer city suburbs across the country, and will see the inferior fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) technology replaced with fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP), giving these homes access to better internet speeds.
We don’t yet know the full list of suburbs and towns that will benefit from the Government’s additional investment, but NBN Co says it’s now beginning work to select the newly eligible areas. For now, the Federal Government has provided this estimate of distribution, with the promise of more to be added:
- 330,000 in NSW
- 240,000 in Queensland
- 215,000 in Victoria
- 150,000 in WA
- 45,000 in Tasmania
- 9,000 in ACT
While in the very early stages, the Government has also provided at list of suburbs and towns that look set to benefit:
NSW: Smithfield, Wetherill Park, Cecil Hills, Greystanes, Blackheath, Yass, Picton and Cessnock
Queensland: Bowen, Karana Downs, Warwick, Maryborough, Darra and the Glasshouse Mountains
Victoria: Clifton Springs, Bendigo, Portland, Sorrento and Gisborne
WA: Albany, Denmark, Margaret River, Warnbro, Roleystone and Kelmscott
Tasmania: Huonville, Burnie, Ulverstone, Old Beach and Berriedale
ACT: Monash
Prior to the Government’s additional AU$2.4 billion investment, NBN Co had identified 2 million premises to receive an FTTP upgrade.
How do I get an FTTP upgrade?
If you’re living in a suburb that has been announced as receiving a fibre upgrade, you’ll be required to order an NBN plan with a speed of 100Mbps or above in order to make the final connection (that means an NBN 100, NBN 250 or NBN 1000 plan).
So why’s this the case? NBN Co says that once it’s selected the suburbs for an FTTP upgrade, it’ll start rolling out fibre cable into these communities, running past up to 1.5 million homes and businesses. You can check if your address is slated for an upgrade on NBN Co’s website.
The roll out is expected to take between 12 to 18 months, with work expected to be finished by 2025. Once fibre has been extended into the earmarked towns and suburbs, residents can indicate that they’d like to complete the final step of getting full FTTP access by placing an order for an NBN 100 plan or above.
It’s only once an order’s been placed that NBN Co will complete the final fibre lead-in to your home. Curious about the price of NBN 100 plans? Here’s a live widget of the cheapest NBN 100 plans currently available, via WhistleOut.
