Fibre is the Future

An additional 700,000 eligible apartments in 50,000 strata complexes become ready to connect.

It’s difficult to believe that just ten years ago the nbn® network didn’t exist – but now 20 million Australians rely on it every day.

It has truly changed our way of life – people struggling with health can get help hundreds of kilometres away, businesses are tapping into new markets, the hard work has been taken out of working from home, virtual classrooms have gone to another dimension, we’re visiting family and friends from our living rooms, while home entertainment has become a whole new experience. 

The initial rollout of the nbn network was completed in 2020 with the network now covering every corner of the country. This includes more than 3 million apartments and townhouses, meaning there is a good chance your strata’s broadband service has been connected to a service over the nbn network. If your apartment building is newly constructed, it’s highly likely that it has access to nbn’s full fibre network.

There has been a breakthrough with nbn announcing a program which will see an additional 700,000 eligible apartments in 50,000 strata complexes become ready to connect to nbn’s fastest home internet with fibre delivered all the way to the apartment.

Importantly, upgrading to nbn full fibre could add potential value to apartments or commercial properties in strata buildings, making it more attractive for renters and buyers alike. Our research* shows that on average renters are willing to pay an additional $540 per year for a property connected to fibre – while 73% of property buyers consider an nbn fibre connection to a home as a value-add to their property.   

Access to fibre allows people to get nbn’s fastest and most reliable residential connection – offering speeds 15 times faster than our standard home plan.

The average Australian household consumes 1,200 per cent more data each month than it did 10 years ago – driven by hybrid work, study, and entertainment, such as streaming and gaming, across multiple devices – fast and reliable broadband is essential.  

nbn full fibre can deliver wholesale download speeds of close to 1Gbps ^, providing a better nbn experience, including more consistent speed and minimal interruptions during online video calls. On this fastest residential speed, you can stream 4K videos with ease, and play online games with minimal lag.¹

You may also be able to download a Call of Duty – Cold War (130GB) game update in under 30 minutes – compared to 7 hours on a 50 Mbps tier. Uploading and downloading files can also be much quicker – a 200MB file may download 9 times more quickly – while uploading the same file can potentially be done nearly twice as quickly.²

Under the program, body corporates can apply to nbn to determine eligibility. Once eligibility is confirmed, nbn will enter an Agreement with the body corporate for each building which will see fibre deployed to each apartment for $275 including GST³ (i.e., a 10-apartment building would cost $2,750 to connect). This will then allow apartment occupants to contact an internet retailer and sign up to a plan that suits them – although there is no obligation for residents to take advantage of the fibre delivered to their door.  

*Research commissioned by nbn and conducted by Fifth Dimension in 2022     

Eligible body corporates and strata owners will be invited to order nbn full fibre. To check if a building is eligible and for more information about the program visit nbn.com.au/UpgradeYourBuilding

^Regardless of the retail service you purchase, the actual wholesale speeds delivered by nbn’s highest residential wholesale speed tiers of 500 to close to 1000 Mbps will be less than 1Gbps due to equipment and network limitations and the peak information rate may fall anywhere in this range. An end customer’s 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 their premises, whether they are using the internet during the busy period, and some factors outside of nbn’s control (like their equipment quality, software, chosen broadband plan, signal reception, or how their provider designs its network).

1. An end customer’s 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 their premises, whether they are using the internet during the busy period, and some factors outside of nbn’s control (like their equipment quality, software, chosen broadband plan, signal reception, or how their provider designs its network).    ↩︎
2. This is the optimal performance of both speed tiers with no other load on the system.  ↩︎
3. For more complex installations, such as commercial or heritage buildings, an additional contribution may be required. These additional costs will not be known until the site visit has been performed by an nbn construction partner. If there are any additional fees, an nbn representative will discuss this with your building’s authorised representative once the installation plan and pricing is confirmed. ↩︎