Budget to improve NBN fixed wireless, satellite

THE federal Coalition says it will improve internet speeds and downloads on the National Broadband Network (NBN) for just over 10,000 premises in the Geelong region through a $480 million spend in this week’s 2022-23 Federal Budget.

Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts Paul Fletcher said the investment in NBN Co’s non–commercial fixed wireless network would significantly improve the quality of services being provided over the NBN’s fixed wireless and satellite networks.

“By using the latest 4G and 5G wireless technology, this upgrade will extend the coverage range from a tower, and allow higher speed services to everyone served by the tower.

“This means more people can be served by NBN fixed wireless; it means higher speed services on the NBN fixed wireless network; and it means higher amounts of data can be used by households and business customers.

“The upgrade will expand the fixed wireless footprint coverage by up to 50 per cent, enabling 120,000 additional premises to access fixed wireless services instead of Sky Muster satellite services.”

Announced on Tuesday last week, the upgrades will apply to 7,496 premises and 2,520 premises in the electorates of Corangamite and Corio respectively.

NBN Co will offer new higher speed services to the fixed wireless network: 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) to all 750,000 premises in the new expanded footprint, and 250 Mbps service to 85 per cent of premises.

This will also result in much higher actual speeds during the “network busy hour” – the time of day when the network is most heavily used, typically near 8pm – from the network design metric of 6 Mbps today to 50 Mbps following the upgrade.

This upgrade also means benefits for NBN satellite users. Because some existing NBN satellite customers will move to fixed wireless, this will free up capacity on the satellite network.

As a result, NBN Co will be able to offer an almost immediate increase in average data allowances for NBN Sky Muster satellite users.

Average monthly data allowances for standard Sky Muster plans will increase to 55 gigabytes (GB) in the short term, increasing to 90 GB once the fixed wireless upgrade is complete in about two years’ time.

“Regions like ours across Australia made their voices heard through the Regional Telecommunications Review – telecommunications matters for every community, including ours, and this is very much a welcome investment in the region’s future,” Victorian Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson said.

“Having access to reliable and high speed internet can really make a difference for people in our community, whether that be families connecting with loved ones, to business owners selling goods here and overseas.”