How to upgrade your NBN to FTTP

The NBN is currently separated into three core NBN technology brackets: fixed-line to metro areas, Fixed Wireless for rural and regional places, and Sky Muster satellite for offshore and remote sites. For anyone not satisfied with their current NBN speeds, though, there’s always the option of requesting an upgrade quote via NBN Co’s Technology Choice Program.

In the past, it used to cost money just to get a quote, but that’s changed in more recent times, even if it’s far from cheap. That said, NBN Co has also announced plans for an upgrade program that’s set to happen between 2021 and 2023 with the goal of getting 75% of homes and businesses capable of connecting to gigabit internet plans by the end of 2023.

If you're looking for an easy-to-read map showing which suburbs or regions will be getting upgraded to FTTP, I've got bad news for you. No such map exists. At least, not publicly.

Technically, almost every home in Australia is eligible for FTTP though. If you’re in an FTTN or FTTC area, there’s a good chance your home will be upgraded to an FTTP connection in the next couple of years, but there is a catch. When a free FTTP upgrade is available in lucky FTTN areas, FTTN homes will have to order at least an NBN 100 plan to kick off the upgrade. For fortunate FTTC homes that are in FTTP upgrade areas, they’ll need to order at least an NBN 250 plan to kickstart the free upgrade.

At the time of writing, the plan was for 2 million homes to be able to access an FTTP connection by the end of 2023, joining the 3.5 million-ish FTTP and HFC homes that can already access gigabit internet. This translates to these areas in the following states:

If you’re reading this article in or after February 2022, those ‘Check your address’ steps outlined in the previous section should also now offer an indication of whether your home is eligible for an FTTP upgrade.

NBN 250 and NBN 1000 plans are currently available to all FTTP homes and a select number of HFC homes, with NBN 250 being more widely available to HFC homes and fewer still able to access NBN 1000 plans. This means HFC homes won’t receive a free FTTP upgrade but the NBN Co plan now is to upgrade nearly all HFC homes to be able to tap into gigabit internet speeds.

By the middle of 2021, HFC users should be able to get NBN 250 plans, and most should be able to tap into gigabit plans by the end of 2023. No further on-premises work should be required for these HFC upgrades, which means you should be able to order an NBN 250 or NBN 1000 plan once the upgrade is complete.

If you’re living at a premises with a FTTC connection, there’s a good chance your home will be upgraded to an FTTP connection in the next couple of years for free. The only catch here is that you'll have to sign up for an NBN 250 plan or higher to trigger  the upgrade process.

If you don't want to do this or can't bear the idea of waiting on NBN Co to get around to upgrading your suburb on their time, you can also apply for an upgrade through the Technology Choice Program. This can costs thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, but process itself is fairly straightforward.

Unfortunately for those with a FTTB connection, NBN Co has yet to outline whether or when those with this particular connection type will be able to get an upgrade to FTTP.

For now, the only option is to get a quote through the NBN Technology Choice Program and then anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars to have your connection type upgraded.

If you're currently rocking a HFC connection and keen to upgrade to FTTP, I've got good news and bad news.

The bad news is that there's not much to be done but wait for NBN Co get around to upgrading your suburb. The good news is that the company says that most HFC connections should be upgraded by the middle of 2022.

In contrast to those upgrading from FTTC connections, you also won't have to do anything to spark the upgrade process. You just sign up for a new plan and you should be good to go when it comes to accessing the fast download and upload speeds.

If your area isn’t set to receive an FTTP upgrade or you don’t like the idea of waiting until the end of 2023 to maybe have access to a free upgrade option, there’s another way to do it. But it’ll cost you. NBN Co has the Technology Choice Program, which is a fancy way of saying ‘check your eligibility and the costs involved to upgrade your home to FTTP’.

Normally, there are three options for requesting a quote: Individual Switch for an individual home, Group Switch for a number of premises , and Area Switch for an area. At the time of writing, the Group Switch and Area Switch options were unavailable on the Technology Choice Program website.

Here’s the steps to take if you want to get an FTTP quote for your home:

1. Head to the Technology Choice Program website.
2. Read through the relevant information headings under ‘What you need to know’.
3. Ready to go? Click on ‘Get a quote and apply’.
4. Click on the ‘Get a quote for a single premises’ bubble.
5. Read through more information, then enter your address at the bottom of the page.
6. Enter your given name, family name, email address and phone number.
7. Tick the confirmation checkbox, then select ‘Generate quote’.

You’ll be emailed a quote outlining the cost to upgrade to FTTP.

This is one of those ‘how long is a piece of string?’-type questions that doesn’t have a straightforward answer.

If you follow the steps above, you’ll be emailed a quote almost straight away, but it’s only valid for 24 hours. You can request another quote later. Click on the ‘View your quote now’ link in the email to see your quote. This is where you want to be sitting down. Expect costs to range from thousands of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. The quote prices also vary depending on when you do them. For instance, our FTTC test initially quoted a $9,898 FTTP upgrade fee but, at the time of writing this article, the cost was $8,572 (prices include GST).

Whatever the cost, if you’re okay to wear it and want to proceed, click on the ‘Submit an Individual Premises Switch application’ and follow the prompts to get the FTTP ball rolling.

As you can see from the quote above, upgrading to FTTP ain’t cheap, even on an FTTC connection where the fibre runs to the kerbside telecommunications pit just outside the home. According to NBN Co, here’s what’s factored into the cost:

• Proximity to existing NBN infrastructure
• Distance between premises (where applicable)
• Complexity of required construction
• Original NBN technology vs FTTP
• Remoteness of your home

If getting an fast and easy upgrade to FTTP is too expensive or otherwise impossible, then perhaps an NBN alternative like 5G or 4G home broadband might work as a viable option.

While these kinds of connectivity solutions do require decent coverage when it comes to Australia's mobile networks, they can provide speeds that are comparable or even faster than what you can expect from a FTTP upgrade connection. You can check out the widget below for a round up of cheap NBN alternative internet options.