NBN Co delivers free 600,000 fibre upgrades, with plenty more still to come – here's how to get yourself in the next batch

An NBN technician giving a thumbs up to other technicians further down a street.

(Image credit: NBN Co)

NBN Co has announced its half-year results
594,000 homes have accepted the free fibre upgrade
Final upgrades expected by 2030

NBN Co has revealed its half-year results up to December 31, 2024, including data regarding the number of households that have so far taken up its offer of a free fibre upgrade.

NBN Co’s fibre upgrade program has only been in effect for two and a half years, and in that time some 594,000 homes have upgraded their home’s technology to full-fat fibre to the premises (FTTP) – 217,000 of which were completed in the second half of 2024 – that’s currently capable of supporting the fastest NBN 1000 plans and the incoming 2Gbps tier expected in September.

A vast majority of Australian homes connected to the fixed-line NBN network are already eligible to upgrade, or should be eligible by December 2025. NBN Co has said it is “on track to complete upgrades to the local fibre network that will enable 3.5 million homes and businesses served by Fibre to the Node (FTTN) and 1.5 million premises served by Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) to upgrade to FTTP”.

All aboard the upgrade train

Given the attractive combination of many more upgrade-eligible homes and the increasingly great value of the fastest NBN plans, there really has never been a better time to upgrade. Not only does a high-speed internet plan (those delivering 100Mbps download speeds or faster) naturally mean file downloads and streams can be completed more quickly, but full-fibre infrastructure is also more reliable and less susceptible to outages.

You can easily find out if your home is eligible for the free FTTP upgrade on the NBN website. If you are, all you need to do is find one of the best NBN providers and sign up for an NBN 100, NBN 250 or NBN 1000 plan. As mentioned earlier, 2Gbps ‘Hyperfast’ plans are expected in September this year. Not only will this introduce a higher speed tier among the best NBN plans, but it will also result in a speed increase of the current options. An NBN 100 plan, for example, will see its theoretical maximum speed increased to 500Mbps.

We’ve picked out three of our favourite plans below – one for each tier – to help get you started. You can also view a wider selection of plans in the price comparison widget further down this page.

Spintel | 100Mbps | AU$65p/m (first 6 months, then AU$81.95p/m)

Spintel is a fantastic option if you're just looking for an NBN 100 plan, with theoretical top speeds of 100Mbps. This speed is plenty fast enough for family homes who want to stream music and video content, or even who like to game. Spintel's plan is also one of the cheapest currently, with its ongoing yearly cost being the only one of the providers we monitor to come in under AU$1,000.

• AU$65 minimum cost
• AU$881.70 first year cost
• AU$983.40 ongoing cost

Superloop | 250Mbps | AU$85p/m (first 6 months, then AU$99p/m)

It's not quite the cheapest provider, but Superloop is our resolute favourite for anyone wanting an NBN 250 plan. The telco claims maximum plan speeds and it offers a Speed Boost days feature which lets you boost your download speed to the NBN 1000 tier for free, five times a month. Superloop's plan is also competitively priced, especially during each ongoing year.

• AU$85 minimum cost
• AU$1,104 first year cost
• AU$1,188 ongoing yearly cost

Buddy Telco | 875Mbps | AU$99p/m

If you get the free fibre upgrade, why not take full advantage and get yourself an NBN 1000 plan? You'd be forgiven for thinking these 'Ultrafast' plans are expensive, but Buddy Telco complete quashes that idea. For a flat-fee of just AU$99 per month, you could achieve speeds will in excess of 800Mbps – Buddy currently advertises the second-fastest typical evening speeds in Australia. Best of all, this plan is cheaper than some much slower NBN 50 plans, only furthering its perceived value.

• AU$99 minimum cost
• AU$1,188 each year

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Max is a senior staff writer for TechRadar who covers home entertainment and audio first, NBN second and virtually anything else that falls under the consumer electronics umbrella third. He's also a bit of an ecommerce fiend, particularly when it comes to finding the latest coupon codes for a variety of publication. He has written for TechRadar's sister publication What Hi-Fi? as well as Pocket-lint, and he's also a regular contributor to Australian Hi-Fi and Audio Esoterica. Max also dabbled in the men's lifestyle publication space, but is now firmly rooted in his first passion of technology.