More than 25,000 jobs will be created including more than 16,500 in construction and engineering whilst three quarters of Australian homes and businesses will have access to speeds of the highest tier of 500 Mbps to close to 1Gbps by 2023 after the Commonwealth Government announced a $4.5 billion boost in investment in the National Broadband Network (NBN).

Unveiling its Corporate Plan for 2021, NBN Co said it would invest $4.5 billion to upgrade the NBN.

Key to the program is a $3.5 billion investment to upgrade the NBN which will ensure that by 2023, up to 75 percent of homes and businesses on the fixed line network will have access to NBN Co’s highest wholesale speed tier of between 500 Mbps to close to 1Gbps.

These upgrades include:

  • taking fibre deeper into neighbourhoods serviced by Fibre to the Node (FTTN) technology, enabling on demand fibre upgrades and speeds of up to 1 Gbps
  • capacity upgrades on the Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) network to support the availability of up to 1 Gbps speeds to all customers on this technology
  • a program on the Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) network to deliver consistent speeds across this technology up to 100Mbps and then enable on-demand access to G.Fast capability to boost speeds to up to 1 Gbps
  • a line speed uplift program by resolving in-home cabling issues for premises on the FTTN network

NBN Co will also invest $700 million to support business innovation, productivity and growth by making business-grade fibre services more affordable and accessible.

As well, there will be $300 million for the organisation to partner with governments and local councils to further improve broadband in regional Australia.

The upgrades will create 25,000 new jobs across the country over the next two years, including the direct creation of 16,600 jobs in industries such as construction, engineering, project management, transport and retail trade.

The latest moves have drawn fire from former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who accused the Coalition of a backflip after it opposed Labor’s previous plans to extend the fibre optic network directly to most homes and businesses and then scaled back those plans upon being elected to government.

“This is a monumental policy backflip by the Morrison Government, which has spent seven long years attacking my government’s original plan only now seven years later to begin to deliver to Australians what they should have had all along,” Rudd told ABC.

“So Mr Morrison deserves no credit whatsoever for this.

“It is seven years of lost opportunity for Australia.”

Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher, however, defends the Coalition’s approach.

“The 2013 decision by the Coalition to roll out the NBN quickly, then phase upgrades around emerging demand, has served Australia well,” Fletcher said.

“It meant the NBN was available to almost all Australians when COVID-19 hit, giving us high speed home connectivity when we needed it most.”

“And it means NBN Co is now well placed to invest in Australia’s broadband infrastructure to meet Australians’ growing appetite for faster speeds.”