• A $750 million program to deliver faster and future-ready broadband connectivity for around 800,000 homes and businesses is now complete.

• Faster download speeds, including during busy periods, may offer an enhanced streaming and browsing experience to help make online activities more enjoyable and efficient.

• Access to nbn^® broadband offers a gateway to remote healthcare, allows people to work and learn from home, run businesses, stay connected with family, friends and community, and connects regional entrepreneurs to the world.

A $750 million nbn and Australian Government program to deliver faster speeds and more reliable broadband connectivity to those in regional and remote Australia is now complete.

The nbn Fixed Wireless and Satellite Upgrade Program has involved upgrading equipment to more than 2,300 towers to deliver faster wholesale speeds across the nbn network, including during busy periods, and the introduction of the fastest wholesale speeds ever offered on the nbn Fixed Wireless network via participating retail service providers.^{^}

Key benefits for those in regional and remote Australia include:

• Faster speeds: Around 800,000 homes and businesses can now enjoy faster speeds, including during busy periods.
• New high-speed plans: Two new high-speed tier plans are now available via participating retail service providers, offering peak wholesale nbn network download speeds of up to five times faster than what was previously available.^#
• Expanded access: More than 120,000 homes and businesses previously within the nbn Sky Muster satellite service footprint now have access to nbn Fixed Wireless for the first time.
• Enhanced performance: Improved network performance for uncapped data plans under nbn Sky Muster Plus.^*

The upgrades have been delivered under a $750 million investment, made up of $480 million from the Australian Government and an additional $270 million from nbn, to enhance nbn broadband across regional Australia.

This program complements nbn's other upgrade programs, such as the recently announced investment to upgrade around 622,000 premises remaining on Fibre to the Node technology, which is expected to benefit more than 300,000 homes and businesses in regional Australia.

With 20 million Australians using the nbn network every day, having a fast internet connection is more important than ever. Customers can check the nbn website to see what service is currently available at their address: www.nbnco.com.au/check

Gavin Williams, Chief Development Officer - Regional and Remote at nbn, said:  

"The nbn Fixed Wireless network is a core part of our network, now available to around 800,000 homes and businesses across approximately 345,000 square kilometres of regional Australia.

"The completion of these upgrades is a culmination of more than two years' work, and has overcome challenges including remote access, weather - including floods, fires and cyclones, and native birds using our towers to nest.

"Regional Australian homes and businesses can now benefit from higher nbn speeds and more reliable connectivity in busy periods than ever before, meaning you can do more online, with more devices at once.

"Around 120,000 homes and businesses that were previously able to connect to the nbn network via satellite are now able to access nbn Fixed Wireless for the first time. Offering these customers the option to migrate from nbn Sky Muster satellite to Fixed Wireless has also allowed us to free capacity in our satellite network to support the introduction of uncapped data use plans^* for those remaining in the satellite footprint.

"We are committed to the continuous evolution of the nbn network, and this program - along with other upgrades underway across our network - means more homes and businesses can enjoy the positive transformation of faster speeds and better nbn broadband for Australia."

Fast Facts

The delivery of the Fixed Wireless upgrades has allowed nbn to:

• Increase network capacity by four times, supporting an improved user experience.
• Achieve up to five times faster peak wholesale nbn network download speeds than what was previously available.
• Deliver a speed boost on the popular Fixed Wireless Plus wholesale plan, to a potential maximum speed of up to 100/20^{^#} Mbps (from a potential maximum speed of up to 75/10 Mbps).
• Introduce new high-speed tier plans to eligible upgraded locations via participating retail service providers:
  
  
  • Fixed Wireless Home Fast is intended to be available to approximately 90 per cent of the expanded Fixed Wireless footprint. Fixed Wireless Home Fast has wholesale peak information rate speeds of 200-250/8-20 Mbps^{^#}. Check the nbn website to see what is currently available at your address: www.nbnco.com.au/check
  • Fixed Wireless Superfast is intended to be available to approximately 80 per cent of the expanded Fixed Wireless footprint. Fixed Wireless Superfast has wholesale peak information rate speeds of 400/10-40 Mbps^{^#}. Check the nbn website to see what is currently available at your address: www.nbnco.com.au/check

Footnotes

^ Your experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn network, depends on the nbn network technology and configuration over which services are delivered to your premises, whether you are using the internet during the busy period, and some factors outside our control (like your equipment quality, software, broadband plans, signal reception and how your service provider designs its network). Speeds may be impacted by the number of concurrent users on nbn's Fixed Wireless network, including during busy periods.

# Fixed Wireless Plus, Fixed Wireless Home Fast and Fixed Wireless Superfast are also subject to policer settings which overprovision those services by 50 per cent. This means even faster speeds are possible when network conditions allow (in particular, up to Layer 2 data download rates possible on Plus, Home Fast and Superfast are 150 Mbps, 375 Mbps and 600 Mbps respectively). Please note that nbn has not committed to maintaining these policer settings or to achieving overprovisioned speeds. Actual speeds experienced by end customers are affected by many other factors, including your internet provider's shaper policies and network and equipment configuration. Eligibility for the two high-speed plan options in upgraded areas will depend on a range of factors, including your location. Contact your participating provider to find out if you'll be eligible to upgrade your plan.

* nbn Satellite Fair Use Policy and shaping rules apply. To proactively protect and ensure the fair access to the nbn Satellite network for all users, nbn may from time to time, at its discretion, shape the following activities to maximum wholesale upload and download speeds of 256kbps: uploads and downloads via peer to peer; uploads and downloads to cloud storage platforms; PC and smartphone operating system updates; software/application updates; gaming software updates; any other traffic related to applications which nbn cannot identify. Other activity that nbn considers may cause adverse network impacts may also be added to the above list to be shaped, including streaming video and VPN.