NBN Co has awarded contracts to delivery partners across Australia to enable one million homes and businesses to upgrade to full fibre internet.
The construction contracts were awarded to Ventia, Service Stream, Fulton Hogan Utilities, and Downer EDI to enable homes and businesses to upgrade to full fibre by ordering an eligible wholesale higher speed tier.
NBN Co Chief Operating Officer, Kathrine Dyer, said, “We are pleased to confirm the delivery partners that will continue the next phase of upgrade activities across one million more homes and businesses. To date, our delivery partners have laid the foundation for nbn full fibre customer connections, with more than 30,000kms of fibre optic cable hauled into suburbs and townships across Australia.
“By pushing fibre deeper into communities, we are further supporting the tremendous benefits that the nbn network brings through online education, telehealth services, the ability to work from home, experience great gaming and streaming, connect more smart devices for added convenience, all the while strengthening social inclusion for those who need it most.
“We look forward to announcing the final 500,000 premises within the Government’s investment to upgrade the nbn network in coming months,” Ms Dyer said.
These premises form part of the 1.5 million premises to be upgraded under the Government’s $2.4 billion investment in the nbn network.
The design and construction contracts cover the civil and fibre deployment in both metro and regional townships and suburbs across Australia. Work commences in April 2023 with some customers expected to benefit during 2024.
The geographical scope of works for the respective contracts are as follows:
- Ventia – QLD, NSW, VIC and TAS
- Service Stream – QLD, NSW, VIC
- Fulton Hogan Utilities – WA, SA, NT
- Downer EDI – WA, NSW
The announcement builds on nbn’s existing fibre upgrade investment already underway, which takes the total premises to three million. This is designed to enable eligible homes and businesses to access full fibre and faster broadband speeds via their preferred internet provider by ordering an eligible wholesale higher speed tier.
Enhancements to the nbn network delivering faster speeds and more data reflect and support business and societal changes over the last two years. The key benefits of upgrading to full fibre connections by choosing an eligible higher speed plan are expected to include a better overall experience when multiple people and devices are online in the home or business at the same time, faster downloads and uploads, improvements in the quality of online entertainment streaming and gaming, and a better experience for people working or studying at home.
According to Venture research commissioned by nbn, since the start of the pandemic online health consultations have increased by 147 per cent, online secondary educational engagement has grown by 114 per cent and a third of people who can work from home now expect to continue doing so at least one day a week.
The company is also supporting growing demands from Australian businesses for faster speeds and more data.
Research indicates that 40 per cent of businesses are using video conferencing, cloud storage or cloud-based software.
NBN Co is on track to enable up to 10 million premises, or approximately 90 per cent of homes and businesses across Australia, to access nbn Home Ultrafast, offering wholesale download speeds of 500Mbps to close to 1Gbps, by the end of 2025.
Customers living and working in approximately 1.6 million premises currently can now place an order for an eligible higher-speed internet plan with an internet retailer.
To find out if you’re eligible for an upgrade, use the Check Your Address function on the home page of the nbn website, or register for more information on future upgrades at nbn.com.au/FTTPupgrade.
