nbn will make it easier for millions of eligible customers, currently connected via legacy copper infrastructure, known as Fibre to the Node (FTTN) to upgrade to nbn full fibre on any wholesale speed plan of their choice.

From 31 March 2027, nbn will remove the requirement for internet providers to order an nbn wholesale high-speed plan to enable their customers to benefit from a full fibre upgrade. This means providers will be able to offer eligible FTTN customers a full fibre upgrade without requiring them to order a high-speed plan.

Under the current eligibility criteria, many FTTN customers must order a retail broadband service supported by an nbn wholesale high-speed plan of 100/40 Mbps or above to qualify for a full fibre upgrade.

This change is the latest step in nbn’s fibre upgrade program, building on previous initiatives designed to make full fibre more accessible for eligible customers. It supports continued fibre adoption, improved customer experience and the transition from legacy copper to more resilient fibre infrastructure.

FTTN uses a mix of fibre and legacy copper cabling to connect homes and businesses to the nbn network. An upgrade to full fibre replaces the remaining copper—between the node and the premises —with fibre optic cable. nbn full fibre is approximately six times more reliable than nbn copper-based connections, ⁱ with a 12 per cent lower fault rate ⁱⁱ It provides a more reliable and resilient connection with access to faster speeds.

More than 1.5 million homes and businesses have already upgraded from copper-based connections to full fibre through nbn's fibre upgrade program, with full fibre now the largest technology footprint on the nbn network at around 39 per cent of all connections.

Customers can check whether their address is eligible for an upgrade to nbn’s fastest and most reliable home connection on the nbn website. 

Anna Perrin, Chief Customer Officer at NBN Co, said:

“The change will make it simpler for eligible customers to access nbn's most reliable and resilient residential technology and give customers more choice and flexibility,

“More than 1.5 million homes and businesses have already upgraded from copper-based connections to full fibre, and demand for higher-speed services continues to grow with almost half of all nbn services now on wholesale speed tiers of 100 Mbps or above.

“Full fibre provides a more reliable and resilient connection for homes and businesses today, while also giving customers the flexibility to access faster speeds as their needs evolve over time.

“As more customers upgrade to full fibre, we're also able to simplify the network and reduce the amount of legacy copper infrastructure that needs to be maintained. That is helping improve network resilience, reduce service and network truck rolls, and support record-low incident rates across the network.

“This change supports the continued transition from legacy copper to full fibre and is another important step towards Australia's fibre-led future.”

Footnotes

i. This figure was calculated using nbn network data on service dropouts across these networks nationally, representing an average (with FTTN and FTTC combined) for the period 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 (note August and September are excluded due to software upgrades). Individual experience on the nbn network may vary depending on a range of factors.

ii. Fault rate 100 AP Jul-25 to Jun-26: FTTP 0.44, FTTN 0.50.

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