NBN Co has begun work on the final stage of its Fibre to the Node (FTTN) upgrade program, targeting more than 228,000 premises.
The $3.8 billion initiative, announced in January and funded through $3 billion in federal equity investment and more than $800 million from NBN Co, will upgrade more than 95 per cent of the 622,000 homes and businesses still on FTTN connections. More than half of these are in regional areas.
The program replaces copper-based connections with full fibre, enabling access to NBN Co’s fastest wholesale speed tiers. The company remains on track to make fibre available to 3.5 million FTTN-eligible premises by December 2025.
By 2030, fibre will be within reach of around 11 million homes and businesses, or 94 per cent of the fixed-line footprint.
“We are making strong progress in upgrading the final 622,000 homes and businesses connected to the nbn network via a copper-based Fibre to the Node technology, with work now underway from Port Douglas in Far North Queensland to Bayonet Head in South West WA – and in many other communities across Australia,” Chief Network Officer Dion Ljubanovic said.
“This momentum builds on our existing fibre upgrade programs, which are enabling up to 11 million homes and businesses to access our fastest wholesale speed tiers by 2030. We’re seeing Australians embrace full fibre and high-speed tiers like never before.”
In the past financial year, 806,000 upgrades were completed, representing 115 per cent growth and an average of 36,000 per month. Ljubanovic said NBN Co expects to surpass one million fibre upgrades by the end of 2025.
Eligible suburbs announced this week stretch nationwide, including Barton and Kingston in the ACT, Dubbo and Tamworth in NSW, Bundaberg and Port Douglas in Queensland, Mount Barker and Renmark in South Australia, Brighton and Orford in Tasmania, Torquay and Swan Hill in Victoria, and Bunbury and Broome in WA.
NBN Co is working with delivery partners and local councils to minimise disruption during construction. The company has urged households and businesses to register for updates to confirm eligibility and upgrade timing.
