In 2021, NBN Co promised that over a million Aussie homes would be getting their ailing FTTN (Fibre to the Node) internet connections upgraded to a full fibre technology for free.
This will give qualifying residents and businesses an FTTP connection (Fibre to the Premises), which should not only increase reliability and possible download speeds, but increase their choice of NBN plans, allowing them to sign up to the significantly faster NBN 250 and NBN 1000 speed tiers.
Since that initial announcement, however, NBN Co has been relatively silent on this front, only releasing a list of suburbs around Australia that are getting the upgrade. Now, there's finally some more news.
Invitations are being sent
For those that registered their interest, NBN Co has finally begun sending out invitations, with more than 50,000 being sent from today, according to ITNews. If you're keen on applying but haven't already registered, you can do so here.
If you registered and live in one of the designated areas (you can find a full list at the bottom of this story), then you may soon receive an email from NBN Co with instructions on how to take up the free FTTP upgrade offer.
Alternatively, you could wait until your internet provider contacts you about the offer, although there's no timeline on this option. NBN Co has also today revealed a list of participating reseller partners, so you can check if your current provider will is offering the upgrade option.
The list is rather small, with Telstra, Aussie Broadband, Exetel and Superloop the only major players among 11 RSPs in total. Notably absent are industry mainstays Optus and TPG, as well as some popular smaller providers like Tangerine and Spintel.
NBN Co told ITNews that this absence is "just a question of phasing and timing", so it's likely we'll see these other providers participating down the line.
When and where?
The timeline from NBN Co claims that up to 2 million premises will be upgraded from FTTN to FTTP by the end of 2023, meaning that "about 75% of all customers served by the NBN fixed line network will be able to get speeds approaching a gigabit per second".
Speaking with ITNews, the company claimed it already has 18 months worth of pre-registered premises, so we expect the rollout to take some time and operate in multiple phases over the next year and a half.
NBN Co has updated its list of suburbs that will be eligible for this first phase, which you can find below. If your suburb doesn't appear on this list, you can check here to see if it's on the roadmap for an upgrade in the future.
NSW: Aberglasslyn, Bella Vista, Cameron Park, Canley Vale, Castle Hill, Cherrybrook, Chipping Norton, Croydon, Croydon Park, Darlinghurst, Edgeworth, Erina, Glenhaven, Green Valley, Hunterview, Kingswood, Kurnell, Melrose Park, Norwest, Pleasure Point, Rutherford, Singleton Heights, St Albans, St Clair, Terrigal, Thornton, Villawood, Voyager Point, Wattle Grove, West Pennant Hills, Woodlands
Victoria: Bayswater, Bayswater North, Braybrook, Cranbourne North, Hampton Park, Lynbrook, Lyndhurst, Narre Warren, Rowville, Sunshine, Sunshine North
Queensland: Burleigh Waters, Gilston, Highland Park, Mudgeeraba, Robina, Varsity Lakes, Worongary
South Australia: Ascot Park, Athol Park, Bowden, Burton, Clovelly Park, Dudley Park, Edwardstown, Ethelton, Greenwith, Mawson Lakes, Mitchell Park, Parafield Gardens, Paralowie, Renown Park, Semaphore, Semaphore Park, Semaphore South, South Plympton, West Lakes, West Lakes Shore, Woodville North
Western Australia: Alexander Heights, Beckenham, Doubleview, Gwelup, Innaloo, Karrinyup, Langford, Marangaroo, Thornlie
