Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a $3 billion investment to upgrade the National Broadband Network (NBN), aiming to complete the rollout of fiber-based NBN and improve internet access for millions of Australians. The upgrade focuses on upgrading the existing FTTN network, addressing performance issues with aging copper infrastructure.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a significant investment of $3 billion to upgrade the National Broadband Service ( NBN ). Albanese emphasized the Labor government's commitment to completing the rollout of fibre-based NBN and maintaining its public ownership. During a press conference on Monday, he stated, 'Families and businesses deserve high-speed internet at an affordable price.
Labor created the National Broadband Network, and only Labor will finish the NBN and, importantly, keep the NBN in public hands.'The NBN Co will contribute over $800 million to this project. The government, in collaboration with the NBN Co, will fund the upgrade of Australia's remaining national fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network. FTTN uses existing copper phone and internet networks from a nearby fibre node to provide NBN access. In October 2022, the Albanese government and NBN announced an upgrade for nearly 1.5 million homes and businesses over a four-year period, utilizing FTTN technology. This upgrade is projected to be completed by the end of December 2025.Communications Minister Michelle Rowland highlighted that approximately two million homes still rely on 'outdated' copper connections. She stressed the deteriorating state of the copper network, stating, 'Let's be clear, the copper network is degrading. The performance is getting worse by an estimated 4 per cent each year, and it needs to be dealt with. Copper is not even standing still; it is going backwards.' According to government data, modelling by Accenture indicates that the FTTN upgrade program will contribute to a cumulative GDP increase of $10.4 billion over the next decade. The upgrades aim to provide enhanced internet services for homes and businesses across Australia. The new FTTN upgrades are scheduled for completion by 2030 and will provide access to higher internet speeds for approximately 622,000 additional premises. NBN Co CEO Ellie Sweeney characterized the investment as 'the final piece of the puzzle' and stated that the upgrades will be implemented across 2,400 suburbs and towns in Australia. 'These collective upgrades, including today's announcement, will mean access to faster and more reliable internet for millions of Australians,' she said. 'We are delivering a pathway to next-generation high-speed, high-capacity, low latency resilient and secure broadband services.'Upon the completion of the upgrade program, over 94 per cent of premises on the fixed line network, encompassing over 11 million homes and businesses, will have access to connections capable of speeds up to 1 gigabit per second. Rowland emphasized that individual households can save more than 100 hours and $2,500 annually by utilizing high-quality broadband. 'We are providing, as a government, families with a better connection to education, telehealth, government services online regardless of where you live,' she said. 'Communities across Australia are going to see this economic uplift and they expect world-class connectivity across the country to unlock the full potential of this investment.' Finance Minister Katy Gallagher lauded it as a 'great outcome,' particularly for the ACT. 'This announcement today of up to $3 billion, 622,000 homes or premises, almost 100,000 of those will be here in ACT, where we have been enduring the copper network for too long,' she said. 'I know a lot of people have raised it with me, probably all of you who live here and are sick of the dropouts and the low speeds. This will actually address that for the people of the ACT.
NATIONAL BROADBAND NETWORK NBN INTERNET UPGRADE AUSTRALIA FTTN BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT
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