Anthony Albanese will inject $3bn into Australia’s government-owned National Broadband Network to upgrade homes on the “outdated” copper network, and ensure all Australians have access to “fast, reliable and affordable broadband”.
NBN Co will also foot an additional $800m to the project which will upgrade its fibre-to-node network, and provide an additional 622,000 fibre access connections across the country.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the updates are slated to be completed by 2030, and will result in about 95 per cent of remaining premises being upgraded from “outdated copper connections”.
“Let’s be clear, the copper network is degrading. The performance is getting worse by an estimated 4 per cent each year and it needs to be dealt with,” she said.
The Australian government with give the NBN a further $3bn cash injection to upgrade the remaining 622,000 homes from the copper network. Picture: NewsWire/ Sharon Smith
NBN Co chief executive Ellie Sweeney said “Australians were consuming more data than ever before,” and said the $3bn upgrade would take place in about 2400 suburbs and towns.
“With something like 20 billion Australians using the NBN network every day, having a robust and reliable future ready internet connection is more important than ever,” she said.
“The nation relies on NBN and we carry more than 80 per cent of internet traffic today.”
In late 2024, Labor began steps to legislate the public ownership of the NBN, with the Bill set to go to the Senate when parliament sits in February.
More to come