NBN Co today successfully technically-trialled multiple generations of optical technologies over its present-day Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) network, demonstrating that its full fibre infrastructure is capable of supporting growing household and business data demands for decades to come.

The lab technical trial, with partner Nokia, showcased multiple optical technologies which when used simultaneously, allowed NBN Co to achieve more than 230 Gigabits per second¹ capacity, utilising full fibre in the lab - with the potential to increase to Terabit rates in similar technical trials in future.

The Supercharging Fibre trial took place at the Broadband Forum’s Spring Member Meeting, which is being held in Australia for the first time and is being hosted by NBN Co.

It successfully demonstrated the use of coherent optics with FTTP access technologies GPON, XGSPON and 50GPON, running at the same time over the same access physical full fibre infrastructure that NBN Co deploys to Australian homes and businesses today.

Coherent optics are a type of advanced communications technology typically found within core and data centre networks, with vast reach, low latency and massive capacity required to meet ever growing demand.

This illustrates how NBN Co could utilise the existing fibre to provide further future-ready connectivity by supporting decades of growing data demand driven by cloud, immersive and next‑generation digital applications.

Guy Scott, Chief Technology Officer, at NBN Co said:

“Our Supercharging Fibre technical trial further demonstrates our full fibre technology is future-ready, especially as FTTP is now the dominant technology on nbn’s fixed line network.

“I’m proud that our existing full fibre infrastructure was able to support multiple generations of technologies, with world first results achieved.

“More importantly the trial has successfully demonstrated the capabilities of nbn’s world-class FTTP infrastructure and its potential to support ultra-fast speeds for households and business customers in the future.

“Homes and businesses across Australia are demanding more data than ever before, and this will only continue to accelerate in coming decades as we see increased adoption and applications of emerging technologies.

“Access to high-speed broadband is a critical enabler of productivity, innovation and economic growth and full fibre technology enables that with unmatched reliability, speed and scalability in the nbn residential space.

“NBN Co and Nokia are close collaborative partners, and I’m delighted that we were able to work together in achieving these great results.”

Andrew Cope, Head of Global Sales and Customer Operations for Asia Pacific at Nokia said: 

"Full fibre remains the fixed network technology for advanced connectivity in the future. This nbn technical trial demonstrated that different optical technologies, including Coherent Optics and 50 GPON, have the capability to operate across a shared FTTP network simultaneously to deliver both consumer and enterprise services without new fibre infrastructure, saving deployment costs and the time to deliver services to customers. Nokia is proud to partner with nbn to deliver another world first technical trial."

nbn network upgrades

More than 1 million customers have upgraded from legacy nbn copper to faster and more resilient full fibre, cementing it as nbn’s dominant technology at around 35 per cent of nbn’s network connections. This upgrade momentum has propelled FTTP connections to 2.99 million as of 31 December 2025, a 24 per cent year-on-year increase.

The company delivered on its commitment to make 10 million premises, or approximately 90 per cent of premises on the nbn® Fixed Line network, eligible to order2 multi gigabit capable wholesale download speeds3 by 31 December 2025. These investments reflect the company’s commitment to modernising the network and supporting Australia’s transition to a more digitally connected future.

Work has commenced for more than 228,000 premises across the country as part of the program to upgrade more than 95 per cent of the approximately 622,000 homes and businesses remaining on copper connections, keeping the program on track to its 2030 target.

NBN Co is also seeing customer demands for more data.

As at 31 December 2025, average monthly data download was 557 gigabytes per active service across connected premises, up 13 per cent year-on-year, with FTTP services averaging 668 gigabytes, up 14 per cent year-on-year as customers embraced higher speeds.

 

Footnotes

1.      nbn provides wholesale services to retail service providers and references to 230Gbps speeds in this release are not current end-user speeds. They represent the capabilities of potential future FTTP technologies and were obtained during a technical demonstration carried out in conjunction with Nokia. They have not been subject to tests with retail service providers.

2.      Service availability including timing will depend on phone and internet providers offering nbn® Hyperfast and is subject to service qualification and only available where network capacity and equipment permits.

3.      In relation to nbn’s existing services, your experience depends on your nbn® technology, and factors outside nbn’s control (like your internet provider and plan, usage during busy periods, your Wi-Fi router generation and internet equipment setup, plus the number of concurrent online devices at your premises).

 

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