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nbn® Fixed Wireless and Satellite Upgrade Program

Last updated 29th March 2023

About the program

The nbn Fixed Wireless and Satellite Upgrade Program, a $750 million investment in the fixed wireless network of which the Australian Government has contributed $480 million, will significantly expand the coverage and uplift wholesale speeds1 available on the fixed wireless network, benefiting thousands of homes and businesses across the country.

These improvements will make it easier to work remotely, access digital services as well as connect with loved ones and access entertainment. For businesses, it will be easier to participate in the digital and global economy and to benefit from innovative technology, such as the Internet of Things and smart farming.

The program will

  • Extend nbn Fixed Wireless: Enhanced coverage and extended maximum range for some nbn Fixed Wireless towers resulting in expansion of the nbn Fixed Wireless footprint coverage by up to 50 per cent enabling approximately 120,000 former satellite-only eligible premises to access nbn Fixed Wireless services.
  • Improve nbn Fixed Wireless typical wholesale busy hour speed2: nbn Fixed Wireless network improvements are expected to allow the network to achieve ‘typical wholesale busy period speeds’ of at least 50Mbps (download).
  • Faster Fixed Wireless wholesale speeds3: Once launched, nbn proposes that all homes and businesses in the expanded nbn Fixed Wireless footprint will be able to order Fixed Wireless Home Fast via their service provider which has a peak wholesale download speed range of 100 – 130Mbps, and peak wholesale upload speed range of 8 – 20Mbps. Additionally, it is anticipated up to 85 per cent of the expanded footprint will also be able to order Fixed Wireless Superfast, which has a peak wholesale download speed range of 200-325Mbps. These high speed plans offer wholesale download speeds which are up to four times faster than the highest wholesale speeds available on nbn Fixed Wireless today.
  • Enhanced data limits and network performance on nbn Sky Muster: For the homes and small businesses that remain on nbn Satellite, nbn Sky Muster Plus is now unmetered for all activities including video streaming4 and virtual private network use for 16hrs a day (12am midnight – 4pm). The monthly data quota is now only needed for video streaming and VPN use between 4pm-12am midnight - as all other online activities continue to not to count towards the monthly allowance5,6.

We've started

We have started works and expect the rollout to be complete by December 2024 (subject to further assessment through the detailed planning process).

Information about when, where, and how these improvements will be rolled out will be available over the coming months.

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Important notes
1
Your experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn network, depends on the nbn access network technology and configuration over which services are delivered to your premises, whether you are using the internet during the busy period, and some factors outside nbn’s control (like your equipment quality, software, broadband plan, signal reception, and (with the exception of Sky Muster Plus™) how your service provider designs its network). Speeds may also be impacted by the number of concurrent users on the nbn Fixed Wireless network, including during busy periods. 
2
This measure will be an estimate based on a sample of nbn Fixed Wireless wholesale services and will measure the average speed at certain points in each hour of the busy period between 7-11pm to identify a ‘typical busy period speed’, in line with the methodology outlined in the ACCC’s Broadband Speed Claims Industry Guidance Paper (October 2020). For each sample measured it will take into account factors outside of nbn’s control such as environmental impact on radio signal strength, but will not take into account retail level, in-premises or user factors that could impact the end user service. Actual end user speeds will differ as a number of factors influence this, including the particular end user applications in use at the time, end user equipment and software, and the number of concurrent users on the nbn® Fixed Wireless service. This means that this measure is not the same as, but is likely to be similar to, the connection’s capability (if retail level and end user influences are minimal). Currently nbn publicly reports on a network design metric that influences its cell upgrade program (which prioritises cells for upgrades to ensure a minimum 30 day average busy hour wholesale download speed of 6Mbps on at least 99% of cells), but which is not referable to end user experience. 
3

nbn is a wholesaler and end customers should contact their preferred service provider to ask about availability. The planned wholesale download speeds for Fixed Wireless Home Fast and Fixed Wireless Superfast are Peak Information Rates, with peak wholesale download speeds of 100 – 130Mbps for Fixed Wireless Home Fast and 200-325Mbps for Fixed Wireless Superfast.

4
Most video streaming, between 4pm – 12am midnight, counts towards your monthly data allowance, but embedded streaming video content on certain social media platforms, including on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr and LinkedIn, is uncapped. 
5
Exclusions and fair use conditions apply. If you’re accessing your connection via a Virtual Private Network (VPN) between 4pm and 12am midnight, all activities will count towards your monthly data allowance even those specified above as ‘uncapped data activities’. For more information on which internet activities are uncapped, which traffic may be shaped to proactively protect the nbn access and ensure fair access to the network for all users, and exclusions, visit nbnco.com.au/skymuster-plus or speak to your internet service provider. For details on fair use conditions, contact your internet service provider.
6

Note that, to proactively protect and ensure the fair access to the nbn access network for all users, nbn may from time to time, at its discretion, shape the following uncapped data activities to maximum wholesale upload and download speeds of 256kbps:  

  • uploads and downloads via peer to peer; 
  • uploads and downloads to cloud storage platforms; 
  • PC and smartphone operating system updates; 
  • software/application updates; 
  • gaming software updates; 
  • any other uncapped data related to applications which nbn cannot identify.

Other uncapped data activity that nbn considers may cause adverse network impacts may also be added to the above list to be shaped, including streaming video and VPN outside of 4pm and 12am midnight.