NBN Co today announced that as part of its ongoing focus to support the transition from legacy copper to fibre, it plans to remove the high-speed tier requirement for customers served by Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) to become eligible to upgrade to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) from July 2026.

Under current Fibre Connect eligibility criteria, most customers living or working in standalone residential premises served by FTTC must order a residential broadband service based on the nbn wholesale speed (100/40 Mbps) or above to qualify for an upgrade to FTTP.

Premises upgrading from FTTC to FTTP under nbn’s Full Fibre Upgrade for Complex Multi-Dwelling Properties program are already exempt from the requirement to order a high-speed tier and that will remain unchanged.

NBN Co estimates that approximately 600,000 single dwelling units (homes) currently served by FTTC will become eligible for full fibre upgrades from July 2026 without the requirement to order a high-speed tier. Approximately 240,000 homes previously served by FTTC have already upgraded to FTTP to take advantage of the benefits of fibre.

NBN Co will be prioritising the upgrade of premises served by FTTC because the technology has higher fault rates than Fibre to the Node (FTTN) and Fibre to the Premises (FTTP). With progressive upgrades to fibre and the decline in global demand for FTTC technologies, NBN Co is responding to long term uncertainty in FTTC equipment supply. The company is proactively mitigating these risks by accelerating the transition from FTTC to FTTP, which supports greater efficiency and reliability. The company will recover and redeploy FTTC equipment where feasible.

Due to the ongoing success of its Fibre Connect Upgrade Program, where more than 5 million premises served by either FTTN or FTTC have been made eligible to upgrade to FTTP, the company is forecasting that by early in 2026, it will reach an inflection point with more customers connected to the nbn^® network via FTTP than the total number of residual FTTN and FTTC connections combined.

The relaxation of the high-speed tier requirement for customers served by FTTC, seeking upgrade to FTTP will further accelerate the transition of customers to FTTP, supporting the retirement of legacy copper access technologies.

Bec Heap, Executive General Manager Products and Pricing at NBN Co, said:

“We are working closely with retailers to upgrade Australians to faster, more reliable and more resilient network technologies. A big part of our combined effort is centred on our strategy to accelerate the removal of copper from the nbn network. Full fibre connections are faster, more reliable, and less susceptible to faults and outages.

“We are in the business of delivering the best possible customer experience and customers on FTTP are more satisfied with their experience of the nbn network.”

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