{"id":86289,"date":"2025-08-23T01:00:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T01:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/86289\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T01:00:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T01:00:07","slug":"exclusive-aussie-broadband-lifts-the-lid-on-what-really-goes-into-prepping-for-septembers-big-nbn-speed-boost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/86289\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Aussie Broadband lifts the lid on what really goes into prepping for September\u2019s big NBN speed boost"},"content":{"rendered":"

In less than a month, NBN Co will be upgrading the speeds of multiple internet plans available on its full fibre and HFC networks, marking the most exceptional speed boost since the inception of the network in 2009. It\u2019s a move that\u2019s been in the works for a long time, and service providers have been getting ready for the big switch (though a few have already jumped the gun<\/a>).<\/p>\n

If this is the first you\u2019re hearing about it, here\u2019s a quick rundown of what\u2019s happening: fibre-connected homes serviced by either fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) or hybrid fibre coax (HFC) on an NBN 100 plan will have their service upgraded to a brand new NBN 500 tier, which offers maximum theoretical download speeds of 500Mbps \u2013 or five times what NBN 100 was capable of. Meanwhile, NBN 250 is being upped to 750Mbps, NBN 1000 is getting a new minimum speed of 750Mbps, and a new top speed of 2,000Mbps (aka NBN 2000) is being introduced.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a very exciting time for the Australian internet, and it\u2019s set to improve speeds to be far more competitive against other developed nations across the globe \u2013 according to independent speed-testing organisation Ookla, Australia is currently ranked 63rd<\/a> for average fixed-line internet speeds. NBN Co is expecting the new 500Mbps-capable plan to one day be its most popular<\/a>, with that hope contingent on the continued deployment \u2013 and uptake \u2013 of the fibre upgrade program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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But a lot has happened behind the scenes to facilitate this speed boost. Retail service providers (RSPs) like Aussie Broadband have been building to this moment for years. TechRadar sat down with Aussie Broadband CSO Jonathan Prosser for a wide-ranging conversation about the imminent changes and how they’ll likely affect both providers and end users.<\/p>\n

Getting ready for the speed boost<\/p>\n

The NBN has morphed drastically over the years. After the country-wide rollout began in 2010, followed by a cost-saving solution to use existing copper infrastructure, the network\u2019s speeds as a whole have lagged well behind many other countries \u2013 so when 1000Mbps-capable consumer plans were first introduced in 2020, the majority of Australian households and businesses couldn\u2019t access it.<\/p>\n

Today, full fibre plans are growing in uptake<\/a> thanks to a proactive free fibre upgrade<\/a> program run by NBN Co, but while that\u2019s been going on, internet providers that purchase wholesale connections have been gearing up for the major network boost, ensuring along the way that consumers aren\u2019t heavily impacted by sudden increase in demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is actually a truckload of work that we\u2019ve had to do in order to be ready,\u201d Prosser told TechRadar. \u201cWe always actively over-provisioned our CVC [the NBN bandwidth capacity in a geographic area]… what that has translated to is a very active capital management program at a network level, where we always over-invest in-year to make sure that we\u2019re really ready for any future capacity. Because of that, we\u2019ve been network ready for this future for quite a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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One of the major hurdles that Prosser described was a switch over in the system from traditional CVC to what NBN Co calls CVC Max \u2013 a change that NBN Co introduced after consultation with its wholesale customers. CVC Max removes the network speed caps of the traditional CVC system, with the network now able to achieve directly matched speeds with the infrastructure of NBN providers. \u201cThat\u2019s a very important change and we\u2019re very proud of our role in making that happen,\u201d Prosser added. \u201dIt effectively gets you through what would have been one of the most frequently impacted bottlenecks at a network level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aussie Broadband has said that it will not be raising prices once the new speeds are introduced in September, and it\u2019s unlikely that other NBN providers will do so either, given that many have already increased their plan prices at the start of the financial year. Rather, Aussie teased that there\u2019ll actually be price reductions across its Pro plans, which offer increased upload speeds versus their regular counterparts.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the question of providers getting in on the speed upgrades early. Early in July, Superloop-owned provider Exetel completely changed its business model<\/a> to focus on offering a single 500Mbps-capable plan, making it available a full two months before the NBN 500 speed tier was officially set to be introduced. A handful of other NBN providers have since followed suit, although Aussie Broadband has no plans to join in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not something that\u2019s economical,\u201d Prosser said. \u201cFor the NBN 500 plan to be a compelling thing to buy [if introduced today] would effectively make a retail price marketably lower than your resale price.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only a matter of time<\/p>\n

As far as Aussie is concerned, it\u2019s ready to go come September, and doesn\u2019t foresee any maximum speed issues with its network partners. \u201cWe don\u2019t believe that there\u2019ll be any greater bottleneck risk as we enter into these new high-speed plans,\u201d Prosser added. \u201cReally, it\u2019s going to be an experiment once we first launch it as a nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going forward, Prosser says there will be a change in how Aussie Broadband markets its plans to make things less confusing. After all, these speed upgrades are only going to be available to FTTP and HFC customers, which means there’ll still be millions of Australian households on copper-based connections only capable of speeds of up to 100Mbps. So on top of advertising speeds, NBN providers like Aussie will need to factor in notices about technology type.<\/p>\n

14 September, 2025 is officially the big day, and we expect most NBN providers to be offering NBN 500, NBN 750 and NBN 2000 from the get-go \u2013 until then, anyone interested in jumping to one of the new plans should check their NBN connection type, (and if necessary confirm if you can access the NBN fibre upgrade), consider upgrading your router<\/a> and, obviously, be ready to spend some time comparing the best NBN plans<\/a> to find a provider, speed and price that suits your needs.<\/p>\n

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