Australians could soon experience faster Internet speeds with NBN Co's proposal to boost download speeds on its NBN Home Fast product from 100/20 Mbps to 500/50 Mbps at no extra cost.

There are also plans to triple the download speed of its NBN Home Superfast product from 250/25 Mbps to 750/50 Mbps and increase the speed of its NBN Home Ultrafast product from 500-1000/50 Mbps to 750-1000/50-100 Mbps, again at no extra cost.

Customers currently subscribed to the top three highest-speed products and those who upgrade to these tiers in the future would have access to the accelerated speeds should the plan go ahead. 

The need for speed

NBN Co’s proposed speed upgrades are designed to meet the increasing demand for high-speed, high-capacity, and low-latency broadband, driven by the growing number of Internet-connected devices in homes and businesses. 

The upgrades will be rolled out across the company's HFC and FTTP networks, with customers in eligible FTTC locations able to upgrade to FTTP to access the higher speed tiers. NBN Co is aiming to introduce the accelerated speeds within the next 12 months and is seeking feedback from Internet retailers on the proposal.

There is a strong demand for full fiber upgrades and higher speed tiers, with an average of approximately 7,000 homes and businesses per week upgrading to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP). 

To find out if your home or business is served by HFC or FTTP, or if you are eligible to upgrade to FTTP for faster speeds, you can call our team.

Higher demand and usage

Data demand and usage in Australia have doubled over the last five years, with the average household now consuming 443 gigabytes per month across 22 Internet-connected devices. This is a significant increase from the average of 40 gigabytes per month across approximately seven Internet-connected devices ten years ago.

The expectation is that the average household will have 33 connected devices by 2026 and 40 devices by the end of the decade, driven by increased use of high-definition streaming, gaming, and cloud computing. 

For instance, let's consider a recent Fortnite patch that was approximately 25 gigabytes. On a standard NBN 50/20 Mbps plan, downloading this patch would take around 73 minutes and consume all available bandwidth. 

With the current NBN Home Fast 100/20 Mbps speed tier, the same patch would take around 36 minutes to download. If the proposed NBN Home Fast 500/50 Mbps speed tier is implemented, the download time would be around 7 minutes. And with the proposed NBN Home Ultrafast 750-1000/50-100 Mbps speed tier, the download time would be around 5 minutes.

A seamless Internet experience

NBN plans to roll out the accelerated speeds within the next year. They have issued a consultation paper to the industry, seeking input on implementing the changes sooner. 

By December 2024, around 9 million homes and businesses could have access to the upgraded speed tiers, with this number growing to up to 10.2 million eligible premises, covering about 90% of NBN's fixed-line network, by December 2025. 

NBN Co has sent a consultation paper to Internet retailers, asking for their feedback on the proposed increases in wholesale download and upload speeds by April 19, 2024. The success of the proposal will depend on Internet retailers' ability to transmit the higher speeds across their networks and ensure in-home equipment, such as modems and Wi-Fi routers, can deliver the full benefits to customers. NBN Co will seek retailer feedback on the necessary in-home equipment for the increased speeds.

The newest round of proposed upgrades will help ensure customers can enjoy a seamless Internet experience as their usage continues to grow. These changes are not yet guaranteed, so watch this space.