Aussies ditch copper for fibre to boost download speeds
More than a million households and businesses have replaced old copper with new fiber connections since NBN Co announced plans to ditch the technology, along with many of the upgrades in regional areas.
With the release of the updated plans, the change has pushed the country’s average broadband speeds and downloads to record levels; almost a third connected at 500 megabits per second or faster.
NBN Co announced the changes in its half-year financial results on Thursday; It also said its revenue rose to $2.94 billion in the period and posted a smaller pre-tax loss of $350 million.
The announcements come a year after the federal government invested another $3 billion in the National Broadband Network to upgrade legacy copper connections; NBN Co also contributed $800 million to the project.
NBN Co CEO Ellie Sweeney said more than 287,000 households and businesses had accepted a fiber upgrade offer in the six months to December 2025; This represents an increase of 32 percent compared to last year.
“Australians are opting for full fiber at an impressive rate, with more than 47,000 upgrades completed month in and month out over the past year,” he said.
“Importantly, 26 per cent of upgrades were in regional areas and we are delivering world-class connectivity to even more Australians.”
He said the Fiber Connect program, which replaces copper with faster and more reliable fiber optic technology, is on track to be completed by the end of 2030.
Ms Sweeney said the network’s growing fiber backbone was already reducing NBN Co’s operating expenses because it required less maintenance than older, less weather-resistant technology.
A program offering broadband plan upgrades launched in September also provided speed increases; Two in five properties (41 percent) achieve download speeds of 100 megabits per second, and almost a third (31 percent) use services at 500 mbps or higher.
Ms Sweeney said average downloads were also up by 65 gigabytes per month, or 13 per cent, with NBN users downloading an average of 557GB each month.
“This is important because it reveals a simple truth: when Australians can access faster speeds at better value, they’re not just upgrading, their usage is expanding and demand continues to grow,” he said.
“It allows Australian homes and businesses to stay ahead of the curve and meet the data demands of today and for years to come.”
The improvements and price rises boosted housing spending by $3 a month to $52 and boosted NBN Co’s telecoms revenue by four per cent, while its total revenue rose by two per cent.
The company’s capital expenditures fell 22 percent in six months, primarily due to the completion of fixed wireless and satellite upgrade programs.
More than 8.6 million premises are actively connected to the NBN; This figure increased by 0.3 percent last year.
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