Common questions

To be eligible for a full fibre upgrade through this program, your building or complex must have:

• nbn Fibre to the Node (FTTN) or Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) available. Check the technology available at your location by visiting Check your address
• shared communications infrastructure that requires access to other premises and/or common areas (e.g. shared driveway or private road) or be situated on a strata title
• an authorised representative for the collective group of premises within the strata title or equivalent (e.g. Body Corporate, Owner’s Committee, Building Owner)

In addition to the above, eligibility to connect to full fibre also depends on several other factors, including (but not limited to) the complexity of the build, infrastructure limitations, and environmental factors, which are assessed by nbn on a case-by-case basis.

A building or complex may be classified as a complex fibre upgrade due to (but not limited to) the following factors, which typically require a bespoke design:

• Apartment buildings – including high-rise, mid-rise, or low-rise residential complexes.
• Strata or community-titled developments – where multiple dwellings share a land title.
• Subdivided blocks of land – where separate residences exist on a single original parcel of land.
• Gated communities – with shared infrastructure and multiple homes or townhouses.
• Townhouses/villa complexes – attached or semi-detached dwellings with shared access.
• Communities on private roads – with shared driveways or access ways and common areas.
• Heritage-listed buildings – which may have unique structural or access constraints due to heritage protections.
• Commercial office buildings – with multiple business tenancies or business units.
• Mixed-use developments – combined residential and commercial spaces within a single building.
• Large industrial or warehouse sites - with multiple occupants or tenancies across the site.
• Boarding houses or government-owned housing - with multiple independent living spaces within a shared structure.

As network upgrades are an ongoing activity, not all homes and businesses in an area will be able to connect at the same time. If your building or complex meets the eligibility criteria mentioned above, but appears as ineligible when you check your address, you can register your interest for updates and we'll notify you if your building/complex becomes eligible.

Some nbn technologies such as Satellite, Fixed Wireless, Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) and Fibre to the Building (FTTB) won’t be eligible to connect to full fibre straight away. You can still check if your building or complex is eligible, and register for updates to stay informed of any changes.

As part of our network investment plan to expand fibre, nbn covers a significant portion of the installation cost. However, to support the upgrade, a co-contribution from customers is also required.

The customer co-contribution fee is $275 (inc. GST) per individual unit/premises and/or per common area service (e.g. security and access control, EV chargers, solar power and video surveillance). 

A joint payment will be required for all units/premises (and any common area services) in your building or complex. This fee is payable by the Owners Committee/Body Corporate/building owner or a similar representative body for all the owners.

nbn is committed to expanding fibre access, however, in some exceptional cases nbn may determine that an upgrade to a particular building or complex is unfeasible. This may be due to several factors, including (but not limited to) excessive build complexity, infrastructure limitations or environmental factors.

If nbn determines that an upgrade is unfeasible, nbn will terminate the build and the Agreement.⁺ If that occurs then:

• no charges will be payable by the building or complex owner/owners; and
• nbn will remediate any works already commenced to the building or complex’s original condition.

This is an infrastructure upgrade for the entire building or complex. To begin, contact your Body Corporate/Owners Committee/Building Owner to gauge their interest. You may also wish to check whether other residents in your building or complex are interested in upgrading. If there is sufficient interest, and the majority of the Body Corporate/Owners Committee vote in favour of a full fibre upgrade, an authorised representative from the Body Corporate/Owners Committee or the Building Owner will need to register their interest on behalf of the property.

The Owners Committee, Body Corporate or Building Owner can agree to include common area services^# such as security and access control, EV chargers, solar power, and video surveillance.  These common area services will also be charged at $275 (including GST) per connection.

^#Please note these services would be unavailable in the event of a power outage unless you have an independent battery back-up.

No, residents can choose their preferred provider to connect to nbn full fibre. In order to make the most of the new service, we encourage all residents to review their current internet plan to ensure it is meeting their household internet requirements.

Unlike fibre upgrades for individual houses, an upgrade to buildings or complexes through this program does not require residents to take up a higher-tier speed plan via their existing provider.

Pricing for nbn powered plans is set by individual phone and internet providers, therefore we cannot guarantee that new plans will cost the same as existing ones. 

To find the best option for your needs, we recommend reaching out to your preferred provider directly.

Yes, as this full fibre upgrade offer applies to the whole building or complex. After the Agreement has been signed with the Owners Committee/Body Corporate/Building Owner (as the owners’ representatives), all units/premises will have their existing nbn infrastructure upgraded to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP). 

Costs are calculated on a per-premises basis for the total number of connections within the building or complex.

An nbn construction partner will provide an installation plan for your particular building or complex.  

You will have an opportunity to provide feedback on that installation plan. If you don’t provide that feedback within ten business days, nbn will assume you have no feedback and proceed with construction as planned. 

nbn may accommodate reasonable feedback at our discretion, however nbn has no obligation to amend the installation plan.  If you choose to not proceed with the build after receiving the installation plan, then a ‘break fee’ will be payable to cover the costs incurred by nbn for any planning, design and preparatory work related to the fibre installation.

If a resident is unavailable during the installation window and the nbn equipment cannot be installed inside their individual unit/premises, an upgrade can still be completed once the entire building/complex has been declared ready to connect. The resident will need to arrange installation of the nbn equipment inside the unit/premises by placing an order through their preferred phone and internet provider.

There is no additional fee for the nbn construction partner to attend the premises at a later date to complete the installation of the nbn equipment.^*

Once the Owners Committee or Body Corporate approves the FTTP upgrade, the cost of upgrading every unit will be included in the overall project cost. This includes the units of owners who declined the installation.

This ensures the building is fully fibre-ready and simplifies future upgrades or service activations, while respecting individual owners' preferences.

For units where the owner declined the full fibre installation, nbn will install fibre up to the closest point outside their unit. This way, the infrastructure is in place if the owner chooses to connect at a later date, or if a future owner wants to connect. In these cases, the final connection into the unit can be arranged through their chosen provider, and additional fees may apply.

At any point in the process, if your building or complex decides to not go ahead with the installation, you can let us know by contacting your nbn representative (included on the build quote).

Any applicable cancellation fees and terms are detailed in the Agreement.

nbn will install the nbn connection box inside each unit/apartment (where nbn is granted timely access), which needs to be positioned next to an existing power source.

The nbn connection box enables you to connect your Wi-Fi router to the nbn network via your new full fibre (FTTP) connection.

Once the Agreement is executed, an nbn approved construction partner will complete a site survey and produce an installation plan for the full fibre (FTTP) connection.

Installation will involve connecting nbn fibre from the street to the nbn supplied equipment within the premises/unit.

Individual premises/unit access will be required to install and connect the nbn connection box in preparation for activating the full fibre (FTTP) service.

nbn will work with the building or complex’s authorised representative throughout this process, who will have complete visibility of the proposed works prior to commencement.

To help minimise disruption, all equipment will be installed as close to the existing equipment or infrastructure as is practical. This includes within communications rooms, building risers, connection entry points or other utility areas. Existing cable pathways will be used where available.

Alternatively, conduit or ducting will be used externally from the street to the nbn supplied equipment within the building or complex. This can also be used internally to run the fibre along skirting boards or ceiling corners within hallways and individual units.

An nbn connection box will also need to be installed inside each unit/apartment. This will enable internet providers to connect to the new full fibre technology in each individual apartment/unit.

For units without an existing nbn connection that are not on an alternative fibre provider’s network, the full fibre upgrade provides connectivity via nbn’s FTTP directly to the unit/apartment. If the resident’s internet service is currently connected to an alternative fibre provider’s network, the installation of the new nbn infrastructure at their unit/apartment will not have any impact on their existing service.

We do not anticipate any planned outages during the time required to complete the works. Units/apartments that have an active alternative fibre connection from a different fibre provider (other than nbn) are not expected to be impacted.

If residents do experience an interruption to existing services, they will need to speak to their phone and internet provider.

Once the full fibre installation is complete, we will notify the authorised representative for the building or complex. They will then update all residents and owners, advising them to contact their preferred phone and internet provider to order an nbn full fibre plan.

While both technologies can be active, new orders can only be supported on the FTTP service.

If residents choose to order a new plan, they should contact their provider to cancel their existing plan to avoid being charged for both.

After the installation is complete, contact your phone and internet provider to arrange your phone service. They will supply or activate it using the new fibre connection.

From the time the installation plan is accepted and returned to nbn, we anticipate that the nbn infrastructure upgrade can take between 3-4 months. However, this may vary depending on the complexity of the installation.