It’s expected that about 99 per cent of Canberra businesses and households will have full fibre connections by the end of 2030. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.
Almost all of Canberra’s homes and businesses will receive full fibre connections – and thus better internet connections – within four years.
The original $3 billion commitment from the Commonwealth was to upgrade 94 per cent of ACT premises currently using Fibre to the Node (FTTN) to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP).
On Wednesday (18 February), it was revealed that the number will be increased, with about 99 per cent of Canberra premises served by FTTN eligible for an upgrade to full fibre.
“It is the fastest, it is the most reliable, it is the highest availability network that we have,” NBN Co CEO Ellie Sweeney said.
“So whether you are working from home, whether you own a business, whether you are streaming, whether you’re gaming, whether you are learning, accessing telehealth, accessing government information, you will be on the fastest available network in Australia.”
FTTN is where optical fibre is laid to a certain point on a street (known as the node), and then the remaining distance from the node to your home utilises the existing copper wiring. Network speeds can vary based on how close your home is to the node, and copper wiring can also affect potential speeds.
FTTP, or full fibre, means there is optical fibre all the way to your home and is typically the highest performing type of NBN connection, as it can handle higher data speeds and has greater reliability.
The work will unfold through 50 projects across 85 suburbs with more than 2500 km of fibre to be hauled throughout Canberra.
Ultimately, it means about 97,000 ACT premises currently on FFTN will be upgraded to full fibre connections by December 2030.
Construction has already begun in Narrabundah and Symonston. It will roll out progressively across the ACT, from Mawson, Kambah, and Calwell in the south to Campbell, Holt, and Flynn in northern Canberra.
It will be delivered through a mix of underground and aerial methods, depending on each area.
“The majority is going to be underground … [that’s why] Canberra’s been a challenging build for NBN,” Ms Sweeney said.
“From our perspective, this is an investment not only today but for decades to come. Once that fibre is in the ground, it’s there, and it is only the electronics on either end that we need to upgrade to take those speeds even higher in the decades to come.
“That goes to resilience, it goes to efficiency, and it goes to the long-term nature of this investment that we’re making.”
As for the remaining 1 per cent, Ms Sweeney said the logistics of connecting them to full fibre made that option “uneconomical”, but other solutions were being explored, including fixed wireless and low-earth-orbit options.
“We’ll be looking at a better technology than what people are on today, which is copper,” she said.
The work is part of the Commonwealth’s national investment to upgrade Australia’s remaining FTTN network, with a $3 billion equity investment by the Federal Government in NBN Co and more than $800 million in company contributions.
Finance Minister and ACT Labor Senator Katy Gallagher said this was about delivering the high-speed broadband that had been promised to Canberrans before the former Liberal government revised the plan.
“This is about finishing that job, making sure that households and businesses can have the choice to have that access to high-speed broadband delivered by the NBN, in a time when we know demand through households and businesses for high-speed internet is increasing all the time,” she said.
“We know that each household has about 25 devices, we know that’s going to increase to 44 over time, we know businesses rely very much on access to high-speed internet, and this is about finishing the job.”
NBN Co is expected to work closely with ACT Government directorates to complete the work.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the benefits would be “enormous”.
“A really important part of the federal government’s role through NBN Co is to provide an efficient and effective broadband network for this city, and its economic development potential is significant, right across Canberra,” he said.
“So too is what it will do to enhance productivity across our city’s economy.”
Traffic management and temporary access changes may be required during construction, with advance notice provided wherever possible. ACT residents can visit NBN’s website to keep informed about when upgrades will occur in their areas.
