Common questions

To request an upgrade through this program your building or complex must have:

• nbn Fibre to the Node (FTTN) or Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) available. You can check the technology at your location by checking 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 will also depend 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
• Townhouse or 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 can 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 still register your interest for updates and we'll notify you when your building or 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 your building address and register for updates so we can keep you informed of any changes.

As part of our network investment plan, nbn covers a significant portion of the fibre installation, however a customer co-contribution is also required. 

The customer co-contribution cost is $275 (inc GST) per individual unit/premises (and common area services such as 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 similar representative body for all the owners.

nbn is committed to expanding fibre access. In some exceptional cases, nbn may determine that an upgrade to a particular building or complex is unfeasible due to factors including (but not limited to) excessive build complexity, infrastructure limitations or environmental factors. Where 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 owner/s; and
• nbn will remediate any works already commenced to the building’s original condition

This is an infrastructure upgrade for the entire building or complex. With that in mind, you will need to start by contacting your Body Corporate/Owner’s Committee/building owner to gauge their interest. Also check if anyone, in your building or complex is interested in upgrading. If there is interest, and the majority of the Body Corporate/Owners Committee vote in favour of a full fibre upgrade, an authorised representative from your Body Corporate/Owners Committee or your building owner will then to register their interest.

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 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 have a choice of providers to connect to nbn full fibre technology. We encourage residents to make the most of the new service as soon as its available.

No. Unlike fibre upgrades to houses, the upgrade to apartment buildings does not require residents to take up a higher plan via their existing phone and internet provider.

As internet providers determine the pricing of the nbn powered plans they offer, we cannot guarantee new plans will cost the same as existing ones. We recommend reaching out to your provider to confirm.

Yes. This full fibre upgrade offer applies to the whole building or complex. After agreement with the Owners Committee / Body Corporate / Building Owner as the owner’s 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 premises within the building/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 10 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 our installation plan.  If you choose not to 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^*.

If the owner of a unit/premises in the building or complex declines an upgrade that has been approved by the Building Owner/ Owners Committee, the Owners Committee/ Building Owner would still have to pay for an upgrade to this unit/premises which will be included in the overall cost contribution. If the owner does not want full fibre installed, nbn would install fibre up to the closest point available to the outside of the unit/premises.

If the owner later changes their mind or a new owner purchases the unit/premises, they can sign up to a fibre plan through their chosen phone and internet provider. nbn would then install the fibre connection within their unit/premises as part of the fibre order. Any additional fees to complete the FTTP connection would need to be discussed with their phone and internet provider.

At any point in the process, if your building decides not to 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 your Area Switch Agreement.

nbn will install the internal nbn connection box which needs to be positioned next to an existing power source. The nbn connection box enables you to connect your devices (modem/router) to the nbn network via your new full fibre (FTTP) connection.

Once an Area Switch 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 apartment/unit. Individual apartment/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’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 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. 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 Fibre to the Premises (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, who will update all residents and owners advising they can now 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 do order a new plan, they need to speak to their provider to cancel the previous plan to ensure they’re not paying for both.

Once the installation has been completed, please contact your internet provider regarding your phone service. The provider will supply/provision this service over the new fibre.

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