Households serviced by Fixed wireless NBN are set to get a huge speed boost, with the NBN Co and the Australian Government splashing $750 million on upgrades to regional and rural internet.
From today, the upgrades will see one of the most popular plans on the Fixed Wireless network, which was previously 75Mbps download and 10Mbps upload (75/10Mbps), boosted to 100/20Mbps.
Additionally, from this month, two new NBN plans on Fixed Wireless will be going on sale. The first offers speeds of 200-250/8-20Mbps, and the second offers 400/10-40Mbps. It’s intended that, by the end of this upgrade period, these new plans will be available to 90 per cent and 80 per cent of Fixed Wireless customers respectively.
The $750 million fund includes $480 million from the Australian Government and $270 million from the NBN Co. It follows through on commitments made back in March 2023, and is separate from upgrades to the fixed-line NBN network that would see NBN 100 boosted to NBN 500.
“We have increased the potential maximum wholesale speed on the popular NBN Fixed Wireless Plus plan, which is available to the more than 700,000 homes and businesses in the NBN Fixed Wireless footprint across regional Australia. We are also working with providers to make two new high-speed plans progressively
available in eligible upgrade locations from July,” NBN chief development officer regional and remote Gavin Williams said.
Fixed wireless is an internet type reserved for regional and rural Australia where fibre cannot be reached. It involves using signal towers and transmitting internet to households via 4G and 5G. With such a big part of the process reliant on signal towers across large distances, fixed wireless is unable to reach the same high download and upload speeds as fibre NBN while still providing a consistent experience across all households.
However, this latest upgrade will see fixed wireless NBN’s maximum speed increased, improving internet use for homes without direct fibre or mixed copper. By extension, some households previously covered by the Skymuster NBN satellite will now be able to access fixed wireless, with up to 50,000 households now eligible for Fixed Wireless, and up to 120,000 households by the end of 2024.
“These higher speed tiers will mean more communities in rural and regional Australia can enjoy the benefits of superfast broadband – whether that’s to run a business, learn remotely, or watch entertainment,” Federal Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland said.
The upgrades are expected to be finished by the end of 2024. If you’re interested in one of these new plans, or the upgraded speed on the previous 75Mbps plan, get in touch with your internet provider.
Image: NBN Co